Gerry Fitzpatrick, Mayor of Wexford. Cllr. George Lawlor, Conor Brennan and Kevin McCarthy pictured at the jobs announcment at Zurich, Drinagh, Wexford. Pic: John Walsh
THERE WAS more good news for Wexford when Swiss company Zurich Insurance announced new developments for its branch in Drinagh, which includes the creation of 45 new jobs.
The company, which first set up in the county in 2008 with just 50 people, has grown year-on-year and by the end of the summer will employ over 200 people. It will also become the main Centre of Excellence for all personal lines claims coming from around the country.
Speaking at the launch, Conor Brennan, CEO of Zurich Insurance in Ireland said: “A little over seven years we began a modest project here with 50 jobs. It was our ambition to see if we could something on a small scale but expanding here has been down to a great collaborative effort.”
He said that Wexford’s office was being announced as the main flow centre for all personal lines and claims as well as becoming a centre for micro business and SMEs. To that end, he remarked that the company had 160 “great people” but now needed 45 more for fulltime roles in the company.
The new roles, which are now open to applicants, span a range of functions including: underwriting, claims management, marketing and I.T. Mr. Brennan believed that the roles would be attractive to people and hopefully bring many who had left the county home.
Some of the roles, he said, would be filled by people already in the company and this would then pave the way for the welcoming of new, young people.
[Full coverage in this week’s Echo]