AJG’s Alesco feared ‘planned attack’ of poaching by Ross’ Ardonagh

The departure of four people from an Arthur J Gallagher team to join the Ardonagh group was viewed as a “planned attack”, according to John Thompson, a managing partner at Alesco, as he gave evidence in the poaching case brought by AJG.

The defence asked if AJG would have faced the same uncertainty if the four resigning employees - Nawaf Hasan, Gerard Maginn, James Brewins and Peter Burton - had gone to different employers.

Thompson said: “We thought we were under a planned attack by this stage,” he said, adding: “We didn’t know where the attack was going to end.”

He suggested that fears were raised by potential exit of Hasan and Maginn as they were key producers for AJG, or “rainmakers”, that generate business. He described the situation as "exceptional” and told the court their exit would unsettle other employees.

Thompson also told the court about an “approach” made to him by Ardonagh’s David Ross via an old contact Henry Lombardi, to potentially join Ardonagh, citing a “head-turning” amount of money on offer.

In a statement read out to the court by the defendant's representative, Thompson said: “Mr Ross called me at home ... He talked in general terms about what he was trying to build at the Ardonagh Group, saying he wanted to build the biggest and best London independent broker.”

Following this, Thompson said he had agreed to meet Ross.

Thompson told the court, he had told AJG about the approach because “it is in my contract to tell my current employer of any approaches”.

Thompson said that during the approach Ross had discussed recruiting him and his construction team. “In fact they started to name individuals within my team.

“I said the timing is not great. But again, I would say , my Lord, that because of the amount of money involved it was head-turning.”

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