InsurTech Futures: BGL Group opens tech hub

BGL Group has this week opened its new tech hub at the White Collar Factory on Silicon Roundabout in London’s Shoreditch. BGL Group is home to price comparison website comparethemarket.com.

Matthew Donaldson, CEO, BGL Group, said: “For us it’s a priority to stay at the forefront of digital technology so that we can best support our customers with mobile apps and websites with a laser focus on user experience. “Basing ourselves at White Collar Factory, in the heart of London’s thriving tech industry, will allow our teams to work in an atmosphere of creativity, bouncing ideas off colleagues and professionals in the wider industry and continuing to break new ground in digital and data innovation.”

The group’s new offices, which occupy the entire sixth floor of the 16-storey building, will be its first permanent London base, in addition to its offices in Peterborough, Sunderland, Wakefield and Paris. Over 150 employees will be accommodated in the space.

According to BGL the building has been independently certified as having leading-edge digital infrastructure. Other features of the development include a rooftop running track, roof terrace with extensive views across London, 276 cycle spaces, flexible working spaces plus a courtyard, cafés and restaurants.

The office will be led by Jon Mullen, associate director, product engineering, who previously led the delivery of Now TV and was head of software excellence & culture at Sky.

Some of the roles to be based at the White Collar Factory include full stack software engineers, big data engineers, data scientists specialising in real time data processing and machine learning implementation, and user experience (UX) designers. The workspace will include a usability lab – an environment where users are studied interacting with applications – and a mobile device lab to automate the testing of applications across a suite of physical devices.

Donaldson added: “We firmly believe that our new tech-focused hub, with world class connectivity, will support us in attracting and retaining the best talent in digital, brand and data. We’ve equipped our teams with the latest technology and flexible working spaces to allow them to unleash their vision and imagination.”