Lloyd‘s of London began life as a small club of marine underwriters operating out of Edward Lloyd’s coffee house in 1688, and has since grown to become the UK’s largest insurance marketplace.

Housed in a landmark symbol of modernity in the heart of the capital’s financial district, Lloyd‘s of London’s current home at One Lime Street was designed by world-renowned architect Sir Richard Rogers.

At no point in the institution’s history has technology been so critical. So it is no surprise that the newly-appointed chief information officer (CIO) is tasked with the job of leading the oldest insurance exchange into the digital age.

Peter Hambling has been in the job for six months.

While maintaining all the history and charm of the place ­ which includes a leather-bound book with the day’s losses written out with feather and ink, and a bell to be tolled when a ship goes down ­ Hambling’s job is to develop and improve the exchange’s customer service offerings.

His role at Lloyd’s follows a 15-year career with HSBC which included creation of the electronic banking platform for 31 million customers. But 47-year old Hambling’s experience as a corporate IT professional belies his entrepreneurial roots.

It all started with a natural inquisitiveness.

“I’ve always been fascinated with the way things work. Ever since I was a child I was taking things apart,” said Hambling.

After maths and science A-levels, he worked briefly for Marconi Space and Defence Systems before embarking upon a string of solo ventures working with microcomputers.

The last of the companies was sold to an investment bank, launching a lifelong career in the financial services technology sector.

It was a path that would lead ­ via project management, architecture and senior executive positions at HSBC ­ to the Lloyd’s of London boardroom and a role Hambling regards as critical to any large modern business.

“The CIO job has changed from pure technologist into someone who can contribute to the shaping and development of an organisation by providing the technology to serve business needs,” he said.

The new remit throws up a different set of challenges and skills to the traditional IT director job.

“Explosive technology growth is the most important issue,” said Hambling. “You can’t wake up in the morning without touching technology, and CIOs have to fully understand the business to understand the technology they are developing.”

Unprecedented rates of data centre growth and communications networks stretched to capacity are also high on the agenda, but most pressing is technology’s escalating use of power.

“The IT sector has to think about its carbon position to improve operational costs and for the sake of future generations,” said Hambling.

But though business practices may have changed since Hambling’s days with microcomputers, the underlying mindset of the entrepreneur is a constant. And the most important thing is still the people.

“I always had a very good support network of friends, colleagues and associates who were enthusiastic about what I was doing, and we supported each other,” he said.

The first thing Hambling did when he joined Lloyd’s was to create a team with four direct reports overseeing key areas such as development and security.

“One of the challenges is improving the business engagement,” he said. “It is the most important thing because it is the first point of contact the business has with IT.”

Now that the right structures are in place, the transformation programme has the best chances of success.

“The last thing I did is always the thing I’m most proud of, so settling into Lloyd’s has become something I’m honoured to be a part of,” said Hambling.

“Six months in, we are starting to lay the building blocks ­ which is immensely satisfying and rewarding.”