Sunderland is set for 40 new jobs after digital firm BGL Group announced plans to open a tech hub in the city.
BGL, which already operates a tech hub at the White Collar Factory in Shoreditch in London, is investing 拢3 million into the project at its premises at St Catherine鈥檚 Court.
It is already recruiting for the first 20 roles and is looking for delivery professionals, software engineers, software quality engineers and business analysts.
Peterborough-headquartered BGL, which is a digital distributor of motor and home insurance products, employs nearly 700 people in Sunderland and also has offices in Wakefield and Paris.
It was supported in the project by Sunderland City Council鈥檚 inward investment agency MAKE it Sunderland.
鈥淏GL has a long track record of investing in聽Sunderland via our award-winning contact centre, which has been a key local employer for many years,鈥� said Steven Woodford, CTO for insurance, distribution and outsourcing.
鈥淲e鈥檙e very excited now to be expanding that investment into securing new talent with the digital and software engineering skills which will help us drive the future of our business.
鈥淲e looked at a number of locations before choosing Sunderland, but were keen to tap into 鈥� and become part of 鈥� the city鈥檚 growing tech community.鈥�
Sunderland City Council Leader Cllr Graeme Miller said: 鈥淭his is great news for Sunderland and for its thriving digital and knowledge economies.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a further vote of confidence in the city from BGL which already employs many hundreds of people in Sunderland. This new investment in a tech hub will create highly skilled technology jobs to boost the city鈥檚 software and digital strengths.
鈥淲e have had a close relationship with BGL for many years and we are delighted they have chosen to invest again and create new opportunities in our city.鈥�