Hastings Direct in new high street launch

Hastings Direct has announced plans to invest in a series of brand new high street shops.

Neil Utley, Hastings Direct chairman, said: “I am hugely excited by the opportunity to build the best multichannel insurance broker in the UK, where our customers can deal with us face to face in our branches, on the phone or over the internet. They make the choice how they want to deal with us”

Hastings Direct has pledged to pilot three new stores in the coming months. If the pilot is successful it is planned to open up a number branches in the near future. It is expected that some of these branches will be franchise operated.

Edward Fitzmaurice, chief executive of Hastings Direct, added: “Since the advent of large centralised call centres over the last 20 years, and the explosion of the internet in the last 10, face to face insurance advice and brokerage on the high street has lessened dramatically. Added to this, the current financial climate has seen our high streets suffer with weekly closures.”

Mat Shepherd, trading director of Hastings Direct, concludes: “We are very proud of the current service we provide our customers both on the internet and from our UK only based call centre. However, whilst the internet suits many people we are aware that a large proportion of current and potential customers would prefer the face to face contact that once was the norm, but that is often impossible to find.

"With this move, we aim to provide an even wider choice and service to those looking for the right insurance deal for their needs. We want to make it easy for our customers to deal with us, face to face in our branches, on the phone and via the web.”