Zurich boosts Bristol, Southampton and Leeds in regional push

The latest boost follows on from opening an office in Chelmsford a year ago to service the East Anglia region.

Michelle Taylor, UK head of sales and distribution for retail at Zurich told Insurance Age that the Chelmsford opening had been “really successful, so much so we have expanded it.

“We have taken on a new floor with additional people in there.”

The idea is to build on the progress with the three additions to the overall offering.

“Bristol is key for us. There is an opportunity and brokers want us there,” she said.

Plans

Insurance Age previously revealed Zurich’s plan to open in Bristol.

Taylor confirmed that staff had been recruited in 2022 and the city-centre office was now open with a team of five.

“We are going to have boots on the ground in Bristol and are really excited about that,” she said.

The team will cover property, casualty, construction and motor, with further expansion planned in the future working from SME through to the mid-market heartland.

“Bristol tends to be a higher end mid-market corporate space for us,” Taylor explained. “Our appetite will be the same but our access to customers and brokers that understand that market gives us an advantage.”

It will form part of the Midlands and South West region reporting to head of region Stephen Davis in Birmingham.

Leeds

The new premises in Leeds will house 35 staff.

“We can use that to service from an SME point of view or mid-market underwriters,” Taylor stated.

She noted that Leeds has always been a “strong hub”, with Zurich having offices in the city, but the development gives “more of a foothold and a presence” with local empowered decision makers.

“We have recognised that we need a trading footprint there,” Taylor continued.

“As a marketplace brokers expect us to be there. This gave us an opportunity to get something more fit for purpose in terms of scale.”

Established

New underwriter Phil McCaw has already started, with a second confirmed and plans to extend further, Taylor detailed. The office will report to Morgan Lyons, head of regional market for the North.

“We already have an established book there,” Taylor summed up on Leeds. “It helps us open up the customer base and local broker relationships. That was the bit we were missing by not having underwriters present.”

Meanwhile, Zurich is also expanding its regional footprint in the Southampton area with the addition of a property and casualty underwriting team.

Four mid-market underwriters with experience across property, casualty, construction and fleet (Thomas Pickett, Ashley Miller, Dawn Strong and Matt Sandle) will work from Zurich’s Whitley office.

Trading site

Southampton has always had a sales team covering the area but never underwriters based there in a commercial trading site.

Taylor said: “They will have local underwriting decision makers in the office.”

The insurer is also undertaking a “massive” refurbishment of the Manchester office, Taylor listed.

There will be no changes to staff, but the upgrade due over the next few weeks will deliver more space for face-to-face meetings with brokers.

Looking at the package overall Taylor said it “supports our commitment to the regional market place”.

Future

Questioned on whether Chelmsford, Bristol, Leeds and Southampton marked the end of the regional push, the Zurich leader said the insurer had learned a lot from opening up in East Anglia and may look again at more locations.

London, while an area that hosts meetings with brokers and underwriters from around the country across commercial, high-net-worth and personal lines, is not a trading site as such.

“We are looking at whether London will have more of a footprint,” she acknowledged, suggesting there was the possibility to run a pilot with dedicated underwriters permanently in the building.

The locations chosen so far were the “hotspots” in Zurich’s internal data, showing it could recruit and be close to brokers in each place, she said.

“It is at the core of who we are. We really support regional independent brokers. We absolutely recognise the service that brokers give to their customers.

“We want to be side by side with them in their marketplace; speed of response and ease of trade are key for us. This is about supporting our local community brokers.

“If we think we have got a gap then we will look to do it if the data supports it.

“We have big growth plans in the regions.”

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