London Market
Dan Hornsby | London Market Data Delivery Partner
Accelerating data roadmaps and modernising legacy platforms with nearly 20 years of domain expertise. No-nonsense, execution-focused, and 100% direct - no agency in the chain.
The fixer approach
Stalled roadmaps, redlined legacy, modern transformations - driven over the line.
After a decade leading data teams in the market - most recently as Head of Data Architecture at Starr - I work as an independent advisory and delivery partner through Cherry Data. I unpick complex London Market estates and align technology with how Finance, Actuarial, Claims, and Delegated teams actually operate.
Collaborative integration: We augment internal talent, focus on shared outcomes, and prioritise knowledge transfer - without the typical outsider ego. Industry knowledge first; Databricks, MS Fabric, MS SQL, and Phinsys-aligned delivery second, on sound foundations.
Domain & technology
Where we operate
High-signal context - not generic "digital transformation" language.
London Market domains
- Finance - reporting, close, and management information across complex group structures.
- Actuarial - data flows that respect pricing, reserving, and capital modelling dependencies.
- Regulatory - traceable, governed submissions and controls.
- Claims - end-to-end claims data and operational analytics.
- Delegated & Open Market - Expert unpicking of Bordereaux, coverholder reporting, and downstream finance integration.
Core platforms
- Databricks - lakehouse architecture, engineering discipline, and AI-ready pipelines.
- Microsoft Fabric and Azure - enterprise integration and secure patterns.
- MS SQL Server - performance, consolidation, and migration paths.
- Phinsys & Tandem Integration - Ensuring upstream data landscapes are perfectly architected to feed the Tandem finance engine, reducing reconciliation friction and ensuring 'accounting-grade' accuracy from day one.
Infrastructure
Dedicated sovereign infrastructure
We maintain our own high-performance compute environment - a private GPU cluster (96GB VRAM) dedicated to our SaaS products.
The SiftBdx edge
Our flagship data-mapping tool, SiftBdx, is delivered as pure SaaS hosted exclusively on our private hardware. That means absolute data isolation and total sovereignty - no friction from cloud provisioning or internal IT deployment hurdles. We don't ask for cloud access; we provide the solution.
Strategy & leadership
Insider perspective, execution-first
Peer-reviewing, defining, and leading Data & Governance programmes from an insider's perspective - focusing on execution over unsolicited opinion. Having held these roles internally, I understand the frustration of outsiders distributing views without context; Cherry Data is built around practical delivery and shared outcomes.
Delivery model
A lean core, a vetted bench
A lean core supported by a vetted network of Lloyd's-market specialists. When a programme needs to scale beyond my own capacity, I can call on trusted former colleagues - scalable delivery without the overhead of a large consultancy.
AI & data science readiness: Architectural groundwork for modern AI initiatives, with emphasis on governed, auditable data for model development - especially on Databricks.
Commercial clarity
Statement of Work engagements
Not every initiative needs a traditional full-time commitment; pace is often set by the combined availability of business functions. I offer flexible arrangements on a Statement of Work (SoW) basis.
Direct commercial clarity: With no agency in the chain, 100% of your budget goes toward delivery, giving full commercial transparency and IR35 clarity that contingent workers via agencies often lack.
Next step
Are you free for a coffee in EC3?
Let's discuss your roadmap - what you are accelerating, what is stuck, and what "good" looks like for your stakeholders.
Daniel Hornsby | Director