The managing agency for Hamilton Group’s London underwriters is to join the space race.

And Hamilton Underwriting, which runs Lloyd’s syndicate 3334 and the Lloyd’s operation of Hamilton Insurance Group, has taken on two new senior underwriters as the company expands.

Sima Adhya has been appointed head of space, while Stuart Quinlan has become head of professional lines and deputy active underwriter.

Hamilton Underwriting CEO Dermot O’Donohoe said: “I’m delighted that two experienced underwriters with such impressive track records for growing profitable businesses are a part of our new team.

“Sima and Stuart join us at an exciting time in Syndicate 3334’s development. I know their knowledge and experience will be invaluable as we prepare to launch our 2016 business plan on January 1.”

Dr Adhya joins Hamilton Underwriting after four years as head of space at insurance firm Starstone. She was previously head of space at Sciemus, a data analytics and research-based underwriter.

She previously worked at the UK defence and research agency QinetiQ as technical product manager for a radar detection system, working on the operations team for a UK imaging satellite and for the European Space Agency, where she helped develop asteroid deflection techniques. Her team at Hamilton Underwriting, Mike Thorp and Jon Ashby, are both former Starstone employees.

Mr Quinlan, a 25-year veteran of the industry, joined Hamilton from Barbican Syndicate 1955, where he was in charge of all casualty insurance and reinsurance lines.

He joined Barbican from insurance giants Zurich, where he was chief underwriting officer for Europe.

Prior to that, he had senior roles at Novae Group and Royal & Sun Alliance.

Hamilton Underwriting is an arm of Bermuda-based Hamilton Insurance Group, a holding company for insurance and reinsurance operations underwriting property and casualty risks in Bermuda, the US and at Lloyd’s of London.

The company uses analytics and research to create underwriting and investment value for clients and shareholders.