esure ensures jobs

Esure ensures jobs

 

Five hundred new jobs will be created in Glasgow’s international financial district in the next five years.  The announcement by Peter Wood, Chairman of esure today (Wednesday 18 February 2009) means that within the next 18 months to two years, esure the car and home insurance e -company, will be hiring 250 people. ‘These are good jobs for enthusiastic people,’ said Peter Wood who pioneered direct insurance in the UK with Direct Line. ‘In these terrible times it is even more important that people protect their home with insurance and it is a legal obligation to have car insurance. People are shopping around on the internet and esure is a great brand name. We have several horses in the race with Sheilas’ Wheels and esure. And in Glasgow we have the combination of excellent people, superb infrastructure and a can-do ethic which makes this a perfect place to do business. ‘

 

He chose to locate the new jobs in Glasgow because it is the ‘engine’ of the esure business and is his favourite city. ‘Anyone who would locate in London needs their head examined,’ he said candidly. ‘With their transport problems and overpriced offices it means highly paid staff have great difficulty getting to work. I cannot understand why anyone with telephone and internet-centred businesses would choose to locate anywhere but Glasgow.’

 

The company will invest around £17m in the Glasgow development in their own, purpose-built building – Equinox – in Cadogan Street where 610 staff are already employed. There is ample space for the new personnel and a 24 hour operation is planned.

 

The Scottish Government has provided a Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) grant of £1.4m but Peter Wood emphasised that, while it was a help and made him feel confident the company and the Scottish Government were ‘working well together,’ no amount of RSA would induced him to forgo the competitive advantage. ‘The reason this is happening in Glasgow is because of the excellent workforce.’

 

There is no requirement to ensure that people from any particular deprived area of the city or people from any agencies preparing those who are out-of-work for the jobs market, will be given a fast track interview or job opportunity.

 

First Minister Alex Salmond attended the announcement at the esure building in Glasgow. He said: ‘This is a ringing endorsement of one of Scotland’s greatest strengths – our human capital.  The skills, expertise and commitment of our workforce have secured this investment and expansion for esure’s Glasgow operations. I welcome this jobs expansion which is a beacon of hope and optimism. Companies like esure will guide Scotland out of the recession and into better times.’