Obituary: Dr John Cumming, insurance ‘guru’ and business leader

Born: 26 September, 1934, in Edinburgh. Died: 15 October, 2012, in Edinburgh, aged 78.

Dr John Cumming retired in April 1993 in order to concentrate on what he called his second life, the one lived with his heart. Before this, he had accomplished a very successful business career in the insurance and financial services industries, the life he said he led with his head.

Born in Edinburgh, he served in the Royal Air Force after leaving school before beginning his career in 1955, when he joined the Royal Insurance Group as a resident inspector. John acknowledges himself that, at the time, he wasn’t really sure why he decided to make the move into the insurance sector. Little did he know then, of course, just how exciting and varied his career was going to be – and that he would subsequently come to be referred to as an insurance guru and a great business change innovator and leader.

In 1960, he joined Bupa, which was then a fledgling private health insurance company, and ultimately became deputy general manager. It was during this period that his interest in information technology and management training developed and converged. These were both relatively new areas and their future importance and role in both social and business development were not so clear as they are today. John quickly became the person to talk to if you were thinking of setting up an IT system across the City of London.

His expertise in IT therefore combined with his formidable planning capacity and organisational vision to create a leader able to turn around businesses in difficulty or in need of revitalisation. He established a reputation as an expert in corporate restructuring and rescue.

During the 1970s’ recession he was headhunted by the Guinness Peat Group to resolve problems there before moving on to the Medical Insurance Agency as managing director. He followed that by becoming chairman and chief executive at the Tozer Philips Group at Lloyds of London, and then managing director of NRG (UK) Holdings. During this period, he and his wife, Ann, shared the Freedom of the City of London.

Finally, in 1990, John had what was perhaps his finest hour, or “90 days” as it became known in the City, when he masterminded the recovery of the ailing Anglo American Insurance Group. Effectively, he met the challenge of setting up a full insurance organisation from scratch in just 90 days. It crowned a hugely successful and fulfilling career.

During his career, John also held many other appointments including director of Saltire Trust plc; Conister Trust plc; non-executive chairman of the Isle of Man Assurance Group; governor of Thames Valley University; associate fellow of Templeton College (Now Green Templeton), Oxford University; and ambassador, Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

Beyond his early school years at Boroughmuir School, Edinburgh (Dux), his academic achievements include the completion of the advanced management programme at Cambridge University as well as management studies programmes at Glasgow and St Andrews Universities and at the European Management Centre in Brussels. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Administrative Management.

These vocational and professional qualifications and experience, along with his contribution to society and especially education in Scotland were rewarded in June, 2010, when he was conferred an honorary degree of Doctor of Business Administration by the Business School of Napier University Edinburgh.

On his retirement, John and Ann were strong supporters of higher education. One of their first acts was to set up the CumingaSaga Trust, which has supported many education projects, particularly in Orkney, his spiritual home.

This was followed by the launch of CumingaSaga scholarships to support students who did not have access to higher education in the traditional manner. Since the introduction of this scheme, ten students have been able to enter Edinburgh Napier University from further education colleges in Edinburgh and the Lothians.

About 60 students have benefited from the support provided by the trust, easing the financial burden on them and enabling them to complete their studies. These small grants triggered the potential for achievement in these otherwise promising students and provided encouragement for many to strive even harder to reach their goals.

John’s trust also provided substantial support to the Lothians Equal Access for Schools Project, otherwise known as Leaps, which works with all 55 state secondary schools in the region, targeting young people with little or no family experience of higher education or those who may have experienced adverse social or economic circumstances.

He lived with his family in different parts of Scotland and Britain, including London, Orkney, Moffat and Edinburgh and contributed to community life in all of them. Numerous other interests in later life with both higher education fellowships and schools, as well as the wider community work of the youth programmes of the Colinton Parish where John and Ann were married and where until his death John was an extremely active and much loved member.

Dr John C Cumming had a very successful business career, which he achieved through a strong intellectual and technical ability coupled with hard work and determination.

In addition to that, he gave so much back through his support and encouragement of young people who might otherwise have found their opportunities limited.

He married Ann, in 1957, with whom he had sons Colin and Ian. All three survive him along with his grand-daughter, Ida.