A great 10 years for Hastings in Sligo with many more to come!
HASTINGS Insurance Brokers is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the opening of its Sligo office this year.
The business – founded in Mayo in 1980 – has seven regional offices in Connacht and is optimistic about further growth in the years to come.
The company was founded by David and Mary McDermott, with their son Paul now continuing their legacy as the current Managing Director of four offices in Mayo, two in Galway and one in Sligo.
The Sligo office opened in a time when the local economy was reeling from Ireland’s financial crash, but it has managed to thrive as a trusted institution which has placed an emphasis on serving the local community.
Neil Carew – Commercial Account Manager with the local Hastings office – said the last decade has been an enjoyable experience and is optimistic about remaining on the right road towards local and regional growth.
He said: “Personally, I have worked with Hastings 18 years. I was commuting up and down to Mayo and eventually persuaded them to open an office in Sligo. Thankfully we took that opportunity, the office has been a great success in the last 10 years and long may that continue.”
Neil is a native of Strandhill and saw the potential for an office in his hometown in 2011 – even in a time of economic uncertainty, but 10 years later his vision for the expansion of the company into
Sligo has proven to be a worthwhile venture. “I worked for Hastings for eight years at that stage and I liked the way they ran the business. “Things weren’t easy 10 years ago, but I am a local person from Strandhill and I have a lot of connections around Sligo so I found it easy to come home and do business and the local office has really thrived since it opened.
“We pride ourselves on being a family-oriented business,” he continued. “We also pride ourselves on being local and here for locals. We see ourselves as a one-stop shop for everyone. We have all classes of insurances such as personal insurance, commercial insurance, marine insurance and in the last few years we opened up a life and pensions side of the business.
“We are specialists in all areas. We are diverse in the sense we cover anything from your farm, to your gadgets to your business.”
Hastings covers the widest possible range of insurance needs and in this line of work, insurance is always evolving to cover something new. While cyber-crime has existed for a number of years, cyber insurance is a reasonably new option and given the recent attack on the HSE’s systems, Neil believes this form of insurance is something more people need to seriously consider. “Cyber crime is something we have all become very aware of in the last couple of weeks and cyber insurance is a very new thing. It is in the forefront of everyone’s mind and queries about cyber insurance have increased since the HSE was hit. It is something everyone needs to pay attention to and enquire about because no matter what kind of
business you are in, if you hold people’s information then that information is at risk in an attack. Cyber insurance covers the attack and there is also ransomware cover.” As insurance brokers, Neil and the Hastings team source the best quote and policy for clients.
He said he is well aware of how time-consuming it can be for anyone to evaluate every avenue and explained how Hastings remove the stress of finding the best option.
“We deal with all the companies. It saves you taking up a full day going on the phone and going online to find quotes no matter what insurance you are looking for. We take the hassle out of that and we bring back the most competitive quote. “I won’t say you will get the cheapest price because it isn’t necessarily the best policy to go for, but we will give you the best option. Our motto is ‘great value and sound advice’ and we live by that.”
Hastings has enjoyed a positive 10 years in business in Sligo and Neil is optimistic about the company’s growth over the next decade.
“As a company we are always looking to expand. We are never happy just being where we are, we want the business to grow and everything at Hastings is very positive for the future. On a local level there is a lot of business around here and the surrounding area which means we have a lot of potential to grow in Sligo.” If you wish to get in contact with Hastings Insurance Brokers, you can visit their office in Unit 2 of the Adelaide Building in the Wine Street car park. Hastings can also be reached by visiting www.hastings.ie, their Facebook page @hastingsinsurancebrokers or calling 071 9148000. Hastings (Westport) Ltd trading as Hastings Insurance Brokers, Irishweddinginsurance. ie, Mytravelinsurance.ie & Myfarminsurance.ie is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.