AmTrust has expanded its Bermuda office.

The American-headquartered insurance, reinsurance and financial management firm has taken over more floor space, revamped the layout and plans to recruit at least another four staff this year.

Julian Griffiths, president of AmTrust in Bermuda, said: “We have taken the whole of the floor, about 4200 square feet.

“We had enough room to maybe add four more staff before — now we have enough room to add ten or 12.”

He added: “The people at Washington Mall have been very good and everything was local and they did a very good job.”

Mr Griffiths was speaking at the firm’s new-look offices in the Washington Mall on Reid Street.

The extra space was taken over from affiliate company National General, which has now moved into its own offices on Victoria Street.

Mr Griffiths said the employee count at the firm, part of New York’s AmTrust Financial Services, had increased in each of the last few years.

He added: “You read the paper it always seems to be about people being fired, but there are a whole bunch of people out there hiring.

“There are companies hiring people. It’s not all bad news.”

He said that, out of the 12 current staff, only four were work permit holders.

Mr Griffiths added: “That’s pretty good ratio and I would like to keep that if we can.

“We have just hired a young Bermudian and she starts in a week or two on the underwriting side.”

Mr Griffiths said the staffing increases were due to the parent firm, which notched up $7 billion in premiums last year, locating brokerage, financial accounting and underwriting functions to Bermuda.

In addition, the firm has reclassified from small commercial insurers, a Class 3A, to a Class 3B, large commercial insurers, which will mean an increase in business.

Mr Griffiths said that AmTrust had had a presence in Bermuda since 1998 — and had just signed a fresh five-year lease on its new-look Washington Mall offices, reflecting the firm’s confidence in Bermuda.

He added: “There are a number of things that are better done in Bermuda. The money management we do for our affiliates is better done down here, the brokerage and underwriting are better done down here.”

Mr Griffiths said that the regulatory framework in Bermuda was tailored to international business, which made it easier for companies to perform some types of business here.

He added: “It’s a tough and comprehensive regulatory environment and it’s well thought of generally in the US and Europe.

“It’s accepted it’s not somewhere people go to bypass regulations, but it’s a business-friendly regulatory set of rules.”

Mr Griffiths said: “We, like many of the international companies, are substantial contributors to the tax base of Bermuda, have an interest in its wellbeing and we make a big effort to ensure that the majority of staff are Bermudians, spouses of Bermudians and permanent residents.”