Hiscox’s gift to the entrepreneurs of York

The company has partnered with Make it York and York St John University to launch the Hiscox Business Club for selected small businesses at its new £19m premises in the city.

The announcement came as the FTSE-250 group hosted a party to celebrate the opening of the landmark building. It is now home to 230 staff with room for 550 in total.

Alan Millard, chief operating officer, told The Yorkshire Post: “It is built for growth. We have been recruiting at a rate of a person every other day.”

He said the talent pool in the city is “excellent” with 90 per cent of employees representing new hires for the business.

Mr Millard added: “We were a bit worried as it was always reported that York has very low unemployment. We found all these guys with masters degrees working in pubs. We have a great team and we are really pleased with the talent pool.”

Hiscox chose York from a wide range of candidate locations within a two-hour arc from London. The company looked at quality of people, living standards, amenities, costs and travel links.

York and Leeds came top from a field including rivals Bristol, Bath, Derby, Birmingham, Sheffield and Bradford. It plumped for York after receiving a warm welcome from the city council, said Mr Millard.

Hiscox’s arrival brings a significant economic contribution - the annual wage bill is £30m.