Insurance aggregator expands team to accelerate growth

The company behind two of the UK's insurance comparison platforms is set to create 31 jobs as part of its latest growth plans to target new markets.

Belfast-based insurtech Seopa operates Quotezone and CompareNI, and provides the core technology behind the price comparison services for several money saving, technology and media brands. The company has secured almost £390,000 ($505,000) from Invest NI to support its growth plans.

Greg Wilson, founder and CEO of Seopa, said: "We have grown Quotezone.co.uk to become one of the UK's leading insurance comparison platforms, while CompareNI has grown to become the leading price comparison site in Northern Ireland. More than three million people now use our sites to compare quotes each year, and we have partnered with hundreds of panel members, affiliates and co-brand partners as we've scaled up our business.

"We now want to build on this success and grow our market share, and plan to do this by investing significantly in our team with training and development, creating 31 new roles, and enhancing our systems and products to ensure they remain cutting edge as we enter new markets and compete with a broader group of competitors.”

Key strategic hires will include a new head of product, a CFO and a head of data science, Wilson added. A raft of other new positions in e-business development, IT, sales and marketing are also being created, while a new training programme will ensure team members at every level have the skills they need to help the company deliver its growth strategy.

The £390,000 from Invest Northern Ireland will go towards funding the new roles, as well as company-wide training and development.

Grainne McVeigh, director of scaling, Invest NI said: "Seopa has an impressive growth history, and this planned investment across product development, marketing and skills will ensure it is well placed to meet its ambitious scaling plans.

"The company is part of our scaling initiative, which focusses on helping companies be more competitive and achieve sustainable growth. Greg has already shown his commitment to this as a participant of the Leadership for Growth programme and is now implementing a companywide training and development programme to support his vision for the business."

Greg Wilson added: "Invest NI's support will play a vital role in helping us scale our business more quickly, enabling us to source the right talent in Northern Ireland."