Meet the Core Team

David Sawers

Email: David.sawers@informa.com

Tel: +44 (20) 701 74154

David has been writing about and researching the private medical and protection insurance sectors – and the private healthcare markets and long-term care sector – for over 15 years. He has been with Health Insurance & Protection for a surprise 12 “whirlwind” years and has been Editor since 2006. Prior to that, he was Editor at LaingBuisson, the specialist healthcare publisher, where he covered private hospitals, medical insurance and healthcare funding, as well as writing about the long-term care and care home sectors.

He has been shortlisted for and won a number of industry journalism awards, including being named Headlinemoney Protection Writer of the Year and being specially commended in the Medical Journalism Awards.

As Editor of Health Insurance & Protection, David has overseen the continued success of the market-leading title, launching a number of well-received supplements, special projects and events. During his time as Editor, he has also been integral to the publication’s successful evolution from print to a digital-only format.

David has also chaired the Judging Panel for the Health Insurance Awards throughout his time as Editor and has presented the Health Insurance Awards event itself for over a decade, sharing the stage with celebrity comedians including Jimmy Carr, Frankie Boyle, Simon Evans, Patrick Kielty, Ed Byrne, Tim Vine and others. He has also chaired a number of industry conferences and panels both in the UK and overseas and in different formats. Prior to his involvement in the health insurance and protection industry, David spent a number of years as a journalist covering a range of different industries, including the telecoms and property sectors.

Born and raised in Glasgow, David received his degree in English from the University of York, before seeking fame and fortune (he’s “still looking”) by hitching a ride to London “in the back of a van carrying racing pigeons”. On reaching the capital, he found himself in administrative roles (which he “got hopelessly wrong – sorry”) at investment banks in order to pay the rent while he carried out postgraduate research at King’s College London. There, he received a MA in English and – he’s still not sure how it happened – a first class distinction for his postgraduate thesis on themes of mental health, sexuality and addiction in American literature, culture and society.

Away from work, David likes to spend his time roaming London looking for those streets that he still believes are paved with gold (“they must be here somewhere”). While others tell him that Modern Babylon has fallen, after two decades there he is still in love with the capital, her history, her architecture and her diversions and can often be found wasting time in galleries looking at art that baffles him, in arthouse and repertory cinemas enduring films that bewilder him and at non-league football matches that deject him. Most of his time, though, is spent winding up his liberal left metropolitan contemporaries with his interest in an unfashionably (for London) broad range of politico-philosophical literature and thought. In another life, David would like to have been a horseman and huntsman. However, while he would also love to have a dog, his animal-loving side is limited, for now at least, to looking after two hamsters which aren’t even his. David lives in London with those two hamsters, his wonderful Westminster spin doctor wife and their six-year-old daughter, who is also his special adviser and who says she “felt at home” on a recent visit to No 10 Downing Street.

Matthew Brookes

Email: matthew.brookes@informa.com

Tel: +44 (0)20 7017 6779

In a multi award winning career from hot press to digital, Matt has worked in media for; charities, local newspapers and in B2B markets as diverse as food (the wonderful British Baker), marketing, automotive (not as glamorous as you would think), packaging (dull doesn’t cover it) and pharmaceuticals, on some of the biggest and strangest publications and events imaginable, including being involved in the launch of the inaugural “World Biscuit and Cookie Congress”.

Matt has a passion for the health insurance & protection industry and apart from 3 year stint with Informa’s (FTSE 50) pharmaceutical division where he launched what is now one of the world’s largest pharma awards, he has been on Health Insurance & Protection since 2000.

Responsible for the strategic direction of the title, the P&L and a vast array of other things which keep the title on an even keel he is determined now we are working in Informa Connect that over the next few years we drive the title to new heights delivering insightful and actionable products – the new website is just the first of a number of new initiatives. Watch this space.

Matt is very happily married to an amazing woman with two girls (taxi service), two dogs a brown one and black one, keen carver (whittler), loves hillwalking, keen naturalist, proficient DIYer, flies kites, reads a lot (book a week), likes chipsticks dipped in salad cream, of Welsh / Irish / Yorkshire stock, likes Ghost Hunting TV programmes (keep it quiet), Arsenal and London Welsh (used to play for them) supporter, bit of a softie known to cry at Dr Who (the David Tennant regeneration episode “I don’t want to go”) much to his children’s horror, bonkers about historical geography, keen on fizzy sweets, thinking of getting into woodturning (any help appreciated), favourite town is Brighton……

Stefka Baxter

Email: stefka.baxter@informa.com

Tel: +44 (0)20 7551 9158

Stefka Baxter is our Business Development Manager. She has a passion for excellence in everything she does, she drives change and efficiency with an artistic fair.

She was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, the 2019 European Capital of Culture, Stefka is fluent in four languages and after living in different European town and cities, has now settled with her husband and four-legged baby (Bella the Jack Russell) in one of Suffolk’s “wool towns”, with many wonky buildings) in the heart of the Suffolk Constable Country

Stefka studied in Bulgaria, France, where she achieved Baccalauréat in Business Studies, and England where she recently graduated with BA Honours in Languages & Culture, from The Open University.

A born entrepreneur, at the age of 19 Stefka launched the family business which has expanded into three businesses and still thrives today. She then went on to work in hospitality, retail and not-for-profit, before joining Informa as an Accountant in 2017.

In 2018, she transferred to Health Insurance & Protection and has quickly become a vital asset to the title and was shortlisted in the 2018 Informa Awards in the Above & Beyond category.

She loves travelling and discovering new places and cultures. She always tries to see everything that a new place has to offer, from eating in Michelin restaurants to eating deep dried insects at a Vietnamese road side market. Here are a few of her highlights:

• most memorable place was the Angkor Wat Temple, in Cambodia
• most memorable experience was taking her first breaths under water, whilst scuba diving
• most scary moment was when she saw a boa snake, on a Cuban jungle trek

Adam Pajdzik

Email: adam@project11.co.uk

Tel: (0)14 3848 7698

Adam is a graphic and web designer working with variety of organisations via his venture Project Eleven.

He has been working with Health Insurance & Protection since 2013 as Production Manager responsible for managing our digital inventory and production.

Adam helps our clients with any technical queries around online advertising and ensures smooth running of all clients’ creatives.

In his spare time, Adam loves snowboarding in the Alps during winter months and touring across Europe on his motorbike when the sun shines.