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 totalling 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.”