Zurich in fresh recruitment drive

Zurich is launching a recruitment drive after it lost about half of its marketers following a consolidation of its team.

The insurance company says the move to centralise its marketing teams left it geared for growth and built the business and brand confidence, while the recruitment campaign will allow it to hire a more specialised and senior team. It comes ahead of a “major” global brand campaign, created by Publicis, which will break in September.

The insurer is axing all but two of its marketing office locations, with the majority of staff opting not to move with the business to Farnborough or Fareham. Offices in Swindon and Birmingham are among those to close.

It is seeking up to 30 new staff, which will bring its total team up to 73. Zurich UK marketing director Mark Searle says the overall head count will be around 20% less, but the team will be more specialised.

He adds the move aims to eradicate the “disparate” marketing function caused by having it spread too thinly over a number of locations.

Searle says the new structure for Zurich’s marketing comes ahead of “exciting and aggressive growth”.