Insurance firm serves up 100 new jobs

Hastings Direct says it is due to the success of its sponsorship of the Hastings Direct International Ladies Tennis Championships.

In the four weeks since the tournament at Eastbourne calls to the Collington Avenue insurance provider are said to be up 20 per cent on what the company would usually expect at this time of year.

Operations director Andrew Bowen said: "The increase in calls has exceeded our expectations and our resources are starting to feel the pressure.

"We currently have 750 staff, 300 of which work as customer advisors in our call centre.

"We now urgently need to recruit and train another 100 people to work both in the call centre and in various other departments, such as Claims, Finance and IT, which also need to expand as a result."

Hastings Direct say the championships generated over 800 press mentions for the company.

Mr Bowen added: "When combined with the significant television and radio exposure gained over the week of the event and the fact that 32,000 visitors were in attendance, this has given a substantial boost to the awareness of the Hastings Direct brand.

"The company also concentrated a 200,000 marketing spend on media such as posters, radio, leaflets and bus backs within the Sussex area in order to directly promote its insurance products."

Hastings Direct is advertising its new jobs in the Observer.