Elephant CEO Kevin Chidwick (right) spoke at the Robins School of Business in February on the University of Richmond campus. (Jonathan Spiers)
A local auto insurer looking west for expansion has lassoed the Lone Star State for its first office outside Richmond.
Henrico-headquartered Elephant Auto Insurance announced Tuesday it is opening a sales office in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas, where its westward expansion has seen the most traction, according to CEO Kevin Chidwick.
“Texas is the second-largest car insurance market in the USA, (so) obviously it becomes a very significant market,” Chidwick said. “It was just a question of time, really, before we inevitably wanted to put people on the ground in Texas to talk to Texans.
“We do very well in Texas, we’re very pleased with it, but I think we’ll do even better once we have an office established there with sales people and customer services people and paid staff there,” he said.
The company, which last year added Indiana and Tennessee to its now six-state underwriting service area, worked with commercial real estate firm CBRE to find its Texas space, which will serve as a second call center. At 23,000 square feet, it can accommodate 230 employees, Chidwick said – about one-third of the footprint of its Richmond headquarters, which were expanded last year to 76,000 square feet and can hold about 750 employees.
Elephant has worked with CBRE Richmond on its moves from Innsbrook to Deep Run I, where it currently employs upwards of 600 workers. For its Texas office, set to open next month, the company also called on locally based DK Workspaces to outfit it with furniture.
Chidwick said the Texas location will benefit the Richmond office and operations overall by providing a second call center, as well as a potential backup.
“Having two separate setups means we can triage the calls between the two call centers,” he said. “If we’re finding ourselves struggling because of an emergency weather event, then we can move the calls to the other office. We can test different implementations of new things that we’re trying to do in one place, rather than having to impact the whole operation in one go.”
Elephant Insurance moved into Deep Run I in 2014. (Courtesy CBRE|Richmond)
Last year’s expansions into Indiana and Tennessee were the company’s first in five years. It is also licensed to sell policies in Virginia, Texas, Maryland and Illinois. A direct insurer, the company does not have a physical presence in those other markets, as it reaches customers directly by phone and the Internet.
Chidwick said the company continues to aim nationwide but does not expect additional expansions into more states in the immediate future.
A subsidiary of United Kingdom-based Admiral Group PLC, whose brands include a UK version of Elephant and locally based Compare.com, Elephant entered the U.S. market in 2009, quickly outgrowing an office near Innsbrook and moving to Deep Run I, where it subleases its space from tenant Allianz Global Assistance.
Elephant CEO Kevin Chidwick (right) spoke at the Robins School of Business in February on the University of Richmond campus. (Jonathan Spiers)
A local auto insurer looking west for expansion has lassoed the Lone Star State for its first office outside Richmond.
Henrico-headquartered Elephant Auto Insurance announced Tuesday it is opening a sales office in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas, where its westward expansion has seen the most traction, according to CEO Kevin Chidwick.
“Texas is the second-largest car insurance market in the USA, (so) obviously it becomes a very significant market,” Chidwick said. “It was just a question of time, really, before we inevitably wanted to put people on the ground in Texas to talk to Texans.
“We do very well in Texas, we’re very pleased with it, but I think we’ll do even better once we have an office established there with sales people and customer services people and paid staff there,” he said.
The company, which last year added Indiana and Tennessee to its now six-state underwriting service area, worked with commercial real estate firm CBRE to find its Texas space, which will serve as a second call center. At 23,000 square feet, it can accommodate 230 employees, Chidwick said – about one-third of the footprint of its Richmond headquarters, which were expanded last year to 76,000 square feet and can hold about 750 employees.
Elephant has worked with CBRE Richmond on its moves from Innsbrook to Deep Run I, where it currently employs upwards of 600 workers. For its Texas office, set to open next month, the company also called on locally based DK Workspaces to outfit it with furniture.
Chidwick said the Texas location will benefit the Richmond office and operations overall by providing a second call center, as well as a potential backup.
“Having two separate setups means we can triage the calls between the two call centers,” he said. “If we’re finding ourselves struggling because of an emergency weather event, then we can move the calls to the other office. We can test different implementations of new things that we’re trying to do in one place, rather than having to impact the whole operation in one go.”
Elephant Insurance moved into Deep Run I in 2014. (Courtesy CBRE|Richmond)
Last year’s expansions into Indiana and Tennessee were the company’s first in five years. It is also licensed to sell policies in Virginia, Texas, Maryland and Illinois. A direct insurer, the company does not have a physical presence in those other markets, as it reaches customers directly by phone and the Internet.
Chidwick said the company continues to aim nationwide but does not expect additional expansions into more states in the immediate future.
A subsidiary of United Kingdom-based Admiral Group PLC, whose brands include a UK version of Elephant and locally based Compare.com, Elephant entered the U.S. market in 2009, quickly outgrowing an office near Innsbrook and moving to Deep Run I, where it subleases its space from tenant Allianz Global Assistance.