A centre for innovation: Bristol
11,000
jobs provided in the Bristol CR
£1.2bn
contributed to the Bristol CR economy
UK
insurers driving innovation
The insurance and long-term savings industry powers the economies of our major cities. Three quarters of our people work in towns and cities outside the capital.
The insurance and long-term savings industry is vital to the Bristol economy. The sector contributed £1.2 billion to the regional economy in 2015 and makes a dynamic contribution to the area.
Spotlight on innovation:
A top insurance centre
The insurance and long-term savings industry supports 11,000 jobs in the Bristol City Region, making it one of the top insurance hubs outside London.
Supporting the South West economy
Bristol hosts major regional operations that support the wholeSouth West, along with important offices serving the entire country for world-leading firms like Direct Line Group, AXA and Sun Life.
A global centre for innovation
Bristol is an innovation hub, with global leaders like AXA and Swiss Re working with local partners including the city council and universities on ground-breaking new approaches, for example on autonomous vehicles.
A global centre for insurance innovation
Bristol is host to the “VENTURER” project - one of three major UK programmes researching autonomous driving. ABI member, AXA, has partnered with world-class robotics researchers at Bristol’s universities, and major local employers including BAE Systems and the region’s local authorities, to run the three-year project.
Bristol based insurers are at the forefront of this research which is providing ground-breaking knowledge about a technology which has the potential to revolutionise how we live our lives. The “VENTURER” project includes use of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAV) vehicles on public roads in Bristol city centre and the surrounding area.
AXA is providing vital insight into what autonomous vehicles will mean from a legal and insurance perspective. The firm believes that this technology has the potential to deliver huge benefits to the UK and globally, including a big potential drop in insurance premiums. But without a proper legal and insurance framework, these benefits could be delayed or even missed entirely.
The project is designed to ensure the UK remains at the forefront of CAV technology. It will create an independent test site to work with and grow the emerging cluster of expertise in and around Bristol.
Piloting
autonomous vehicles
Building
local resilience
Bristol is also one of the world cities selected by the Rockefeller Foundation's 100 Resilient Cities initiative to build local resilience against threats such as climate change, which is supported by Swiss Re – one of the world's largest reinsurers. The initiative helps a Strategic Resilience Officer with the job of ensuring the city council is able to plan, respond and bounce back better from major shocks to its infrastructure.
Reto Schnarwiler, Managing Director for Global Partnerships at Swiss Re’s
"Cities will be a key driver for economic growth across the world. Therefore making cities more resilient in the face of threats like climate change is critical to reducing income inequality, enhancing trust in the public sector and generating future investments and prosperity."
ABI members operating in the Bristol City Region include:
- AIG Europe
- Allianz
- Aviva
- AXA
- DLG
- LV=
- NFU Mutual
- QBE
- Scottish Widows
- Simplyhealth Access
- SLFC Assurance (UK) Limited
- Standard Life plc
- The Canada Life Group (U.K.) Limited
- UNUM Group