Hundreds more new jobs have been created at a rapidly growing
Stoke insurance company which continues to defy the recession and
has now moved into new, purpose fitted offices in Burslem.
Autonet Insurance Services, previously located on Hobson Street
in the Burslem area of the city, has expanded into larger office
space in nearby Hot Lane, also in Burslem, following the refit of
an empty building.
Autonet's expansion has been made possible following a
£750,000 Grant for Business Investment from regional
development agency Advantage West Midlands.
The rapidly growing medium sized company, which is based in the
North Staffordshire Regeneration Zone and which is one of the
biggest employers in Burslem, was founded in 1998 and has become
one of the country's largest independently owned insurance brokers
with more than 400 employees.
Autonet will officially become a large enterprise when the
projected creation of 249 full time jobs over the investment period
establishes a workforce totaling close to 500.
Craig Ball, Director of Finance at Autonet Services, said: "We
are delighted by the support we received from Advantage West
Midlands, which gave us the help we needed to further accelerate
our growth and cement our strong position in the industry. We can
now grow even faster and be a firm fixture in the area, creating
hundreds more jobs for local people.
"We wasted no time in putting the grant to real use and have
recruited intensively and invested in new, additional IT systems
and telephony equipment. We have now also successfully completed
the purchase and refurbishment of our newly outfitted offices in
Hot Lane. Our staff and equipment is now in and will be joined
there by all future staff.
Henriette Lyttle-Breukelaar, Director of Partnerships at
Advantage West Midlands, said: "The creation of hundreds of new
jobs and filling of sizeable empty office space in a regeneration
zone is precisely the type of activity Advantage West Midlands is
here to support.
"It is great to see the strength of our traditionally centrally
located business services being replicated in another city
elsewhere in the region.
"This project is building on the West Midlands' strength in this
sector and developing wealth and employment potential, both of
which are business priorities outlined in the delivery framework
for the West Midlands Economic Strategy and which will, among many
other factors, help the Region move out of recession."