Cyber risk and insurance specialist Astaara has taken on three new senior staffers as it seeks further expansion.
The move comes after protection and indemnity insurer West of England bought an undisclosed stake in the company last June.
Astaara is taking on Victoria Knowles as chief of staff, Asti Rogers as head of operations and Gemma Smyth as head of analytics.
Chief executive Robert Dorey said the company had already “seen rapid growth in response to demand”.
Knowles has 20 years' experience in administration.
Rogers has spent more than 10 years working in the London insurance market, including Lloyd’s of London syndicates and managing general agents.
Smyth has worked for the past decade in catastrophe analytics for Lloyd’s syndicates. She is experienced in catastrophe modelling, as well as developing methodologies for assessing and aggregating cyber risk in the marine sector.
Cyber risk management and insurance cover is regarded as one of the growth areas in the marine insurance market.
Astaara recently estimated that claims related to cyber attacks in the marine industry had quadrupled during the pandemic.
West of England chief executive Tom Bowsher told TradeWinds when he bought into Astaara that it was the perfect investment to show its members how seriously it takes cyber security.
“The cyber solution provided by Astaara is second to none and the most comprehensive in the market. We are investing in a cyber product and a team that has a huge amount of experience,” he said.
