Aon: UK outpacing global peers in risk management race

Aon has announced the UK findings of its 2025 Global Risk Management Survey.

The survey reveals that UK businesses are outpacing their global peers in risk management and governance. Nearly eight in ten UK respondents (78.6 percent) report their boards are directly involved, compared with 61.4 percent globally, highlighting how senior leadership in the UK is taking greater responsibility for the risks their businesses face. In addition, three-quarters of UK firms (75.4 percent) have dedicated risk or insurance departments, compared with just over two-thirds of companies globally (68.4 percent).

The top current risks for UK businesses are cyber-attacks/data breaches, business interruption, and economic slowdown, reflecting the growing impact of digital, operational, and macroeconomic volatility. Looking ahead, UK firms stand out by ranking artificial intelligence (AI) and increasing competition in their top five emerging risks for the next three years. This is a clear signal that executives are showing an increasing appreciation of how their businesses are likely to be affected by technology and innovation-driven challenges, as well as by their more traditional risk exposures.

UK organisations are also demonstrating a more mature approach to quantifying and managing risk. Nearly seven in ten (68.8 percent) measure their total cost of insurable risk, compared with 54 percent globally, while three-quarters (75 percent) currently operate or plan to establish a captive insurance vehicle, suggesting a more advanced approach to risk financing and governance.

UK businesses are also more likely to rely on brokers to identify major risks, with 78.3 percent doing so versus 55.7 percent globally, emphasising the value placed on specialist advice to complement in-house expertise.

Rob Kemp, head of commercial risk for Aon UK, said: “The findings show that UK boards are adopting a more structured and data-driven approach to risk oversight. Many are using analytics and specialist insight to better understand emerging risks - particularly around technologies such as AI – as well as to balance innovation with regulatory and ethical considerations.

“The risks businesses face today demand more than incremental change. They call for leaders to view resilience as a source of competitive advantage – harnessing data and analytics to anticipate disruption and enabling them to act decisively in protecting and growing their organisations.”

The findings form part of Aon’s Global Risk Management Survey, which gathered insights from nearly 3,000 executives across 63 countries and 16 industries, providing a comprehensive view of the world’s shifting risk landscape.

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