Insurance entrepreneur Peter Wood's new venture is set to recruit "hundreds" of new staff as it prepares for launch in early 2004.
by Tristan O'Carroll
Insurance entrepreneur Peter Wood's new venture is set to recruit "hundreds" of new staff as it prepares for launch in early 2004.
Speaking to Insurancetimes.co.uk the chief executive of the operation, Colin Batabyal, said the operation has already put in place a senior team from esure and plans to recruit more staff in the coming months.
He said: "We're looking for lots of people. We are going to be taking on claims staff and underwriters."
The venture, which is still nameless, is currently using an internal project name, Spectrum. It is waiting for FSA authorisation, which it hopes to receive by the end of the year.
Batabyal said: "esure has many enquiries which it can not service. We decided that we needed a new operation to capture this level of business. We'll be looking to cover private non-standard motor risks such as high performance cars."
He added that the company has no plans to expand into commercial lines, although it will cover small fleet risks. The operation aims to generate a level of business, "similar to esure", he said.
The new business will use the internet as its primary sales channel and tap into esure's existing infrastructure in a bid to keep costs down. It plans to convert leads which esure can not write and sell products under the Sainsbury's and Halifax Bank of Scotland banners, in addition to its own brand.
