HDI-Gerling forms regional focus in UK restructure

HDI-Gerling Industrial Insurance Company UK is heading for steady profit growth as a result of its new structure, according to managing director Richard Taylor.

The insurer, a division of German industrial insurance group HDI-Gerling, announced last week that it was forming two divisions – major and global risks, and UK corporate – to complement its engineering business division. In addition, three regional hubs will cover the north and Scotland; Midlands and Wales; and London and the South East.

As part of the restructuring, Taylor said the company was aiming to keep its cost base low. “We want to build the business gradually,” he said. “The strategy is about keeping our costs under control and growing our costs as we grow the business, rather than incurring costs first, then trying to cover them.”

The new divisions and regional hubs do not expand the firm’s business lines, but are an effort to align the company more closely with the needs of its brokers.

“Brokers want access to good technical decision-makers locally,” Taylor said.