Hardy Underwriting Group CEO Barbara Merry has confirmed her London-based company is continuing to look seriously at a move to Bermuda.

Following widespread speculation that Hardy was set to relocate to the Island, Ms. Merry told The Royal Gazette that it is currently weighing up its options.

And if they decided to give it the go ahead, the move to Bermuda's thriving insurance and reinsurance market could potentially bring a lot more untapped business into the company, according to Ms. Merry.

"There is no secret to the fact that we have been saying for a long time that we have been keeping an eye on what is happening in Bermuda and it is on our agenda," she said.

"There are those that have already moved and those that have not are still looking at it and we are trying to do some substantive research to see whether it makes sense from a long term base advantage point of view.

"So, for us it is all about trying to ascertain what we can do to access some more business that we have not already, so we are asking some questions about it."

Ms. Merry went on to reveal that there was no time scale on the move, when and, indeed, if it happens.

"We certainly have not got a time scale," she said.

"We did a lot of research at the early part of the year and we have set about some research more recently, but we have not come to a conclusion yet.

"You see all these headlines in the UK about Hardy moving to Bermuda, but it is a bit premature really."

Even if Hardy have not yet committed to coming to Bermuda, all the signs are there that it could be a beneficial move, with the company having the chance to complement their current interests in the Lloyd's of London market with an operation on the Island.

"When we published our interim accounts recently, in a statement I made I said that in my view the London and Bermuda markets are quite complementary and it is possible that there is quite a lot of business that won't see the light of day in and in order to underwrite that you want to have a business in London," said Ms. Merry.

"On my first visit to Bermuda, the situation was that there is a fantastically lively market there and a lot of business out there and in order to do it you have to be in Bermuda.

"So, I don't think the two markets are competing and it seems to make sense to have a footprint in Bermuda and London.

"A very significant part of our business is London-orientated and I don't see that we have to change that."