Hastings Direct focused on expansion as it announces new city centre location for Leicester

Hastings Direct — one of the UK's fastest growing insurance providers — has officially named its permanent Leicester city centre address as 1 St. George's Way. It plans to occupy the first and second floors, once fully equipped and operational, by January 2016. In the interim, Hastings' third UK customer service centre will continue to be based at Equinox where recruitment continues to grow the team from 50 to circa 200 roles by the end of 2015.

Hastings provides personal lines insurance products (car, home, bike and van) online and also from its other UK customer service centres based in Bexhill-on-Sea and Newmarket, where it continues to recruit new colleagues to help service its customers.

The multi award winning company has 1.8 million customers, and its ambitious expansion plan is on track to insure one in ten of all UK car drivers by 2020, raising its customer numbers to three million. Gary Hoffman, chief executive officer, said: "Our new premises at 1 St. George's Way allows us to grow substantially with capacity for 600 to 700 colleagues. Our business is based on being refreshingly straightforward and this extends to our culture. I strongly believe this will help us attract even more talented individuals from across the Midlands, supported by the fact that we're centrally located with the train station on our doorstep!

"The welcome and support we've received from the city council, local businesses and universities and colleges has been very positive and reinforces the reasons why we chose Leicester — the people, the right skills and shared values."

James Boyle, director of Infrastructure Investments (Leicester) Ltd and landlord at 1 St George's Way added: "We are so pleased this dynamic, leading insurance provider has chosen No. 1 St George's Way as its long-term home. This is another example of how the hard work of the city council in promoting Leicester as a great business location is yielding significant results. With the arrival of Hastings Direct and the addition of a vast 24/7 Pure Gym on the ground floor, No 1 St George's Way will shortly become a vibrant hub of activity."

Leicester's City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby concluded: "I am delighted this ambitious and fast-growing company is to make St George's Way its permanent home.

"Hastings' plans to create 200 jobs by the end of the year, ultimately rising to a potential 700, makes this an incredibly important deal for Leicester, and part of our ongoing strategy to bring in significant investment and jobs to our city.

"The mix of jobs they are offering will be of interest to a wide range of people, from school-leavers, to graduates, and those looking to progress their careers, and this is great news for Leicester."

Hastings Direct is looking to recruit a mix of managerial and customer facing positions. For more information about how to apply please email: recruitmentteam@hastingsdirect.com or visit www.hastings-careers.com.