Direct Insurance Group (DIG) has committed to a remote working policy for all 160 employees, following the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic.
All employees that wish to work from home, following the easing of lockdown, will have the option to do so.
The organisation will continue to keep its eight offices open in the UK, Europe and North America giving employees the option, depending on personal and business needs, of working in one of its offices, homeworking or a combination of both.
In April 2020, the organisation also launched a new employee online wellbeing benefits package providing employees with free weekly gym and personal training sessions, nutritional and wellbeing classes.
David Bearman, chief executive officer at Direct Insurance Group, said: “I’m excited and delighted to be the first insurance company to formally announce this. Embracing remote working permanently is primarily about the wellbeing of our staff and we have seen how effective working from home can be. Over the last nine weeks, our group has not merely survived the lockdown, we’ve actually thrived.
“Our staff have saved money and countless hours by skipping the daily commute; time that is now spent learning, innovating, exercising, connecting and collaborating. For many, there is also more time left over at the end of the day for friends, family and leisure. That is all against a backdrop of financials that show we are 26% up in terms of enquiries since we started remote working in mid-March.
“In many ways, this period of working from home has been a natural extension of our existing culture; we’ve always focused on ‘outcomes’ rather than how much time people spend at their desk. We employ good people and trust them to do a good job.
“Coronavirus has had tragic consequences for many families across the globe. It’s also changed the way we live and work, and at DIG we are embracing this change to improve the wellbeing of our staff. There’s very little reason to return to the way things used to be before the outbreak. Whichever way you look at it, it’s clear that this is the way forward and I’ve no doubt other insurance organisations will soon follow suit.”