WR Berkley has expanded its operations into WA and SA through two new hires from rival insurer Axis.

New CEO Tony Wheatley has recruited Cheryl McGuiggan as State Manager WA. She will join the company next Monday and will be responsible for establishing the company’s new Perth office, which will initially focus on professional lines before expanding into general liability classes.

Mr Wheatley, who joined WR Berkley from Axis in July, describes Ms McGuiggan, who was previously WA State Manager of Axis, as “a long-term professional lines underwriter and broker who has a proven track record of broker service and business development”.

Former Axis SA Manager Kirsty Hassell has joined WR Berkley as Manager SA – Professional Lines, and will establish a new Adelaide-based office.

The new offices join WR Berkley’s existing local office network of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

The expansion follows last month’s revamp of the company’s management structure by Mr Wheatley, which was designed to position the company for expansion geographically and into new product lines.

He told insuranceNEWS.com.au that with the new offices up and running, the next priority for the company is to recruit experienced general liability underwriters in each office to begin a push into that product space.

“Our aim is to have a person with general liability experience in each state to leverage off our profile in the professional lines space,” he said.

To that end, Caroline Rabel joined WR Berkley earlier this month as General Liability Assistant Underwriter in the Melbourne office, and Mr Wheatley says the company is also in the process of recruiting a state manager for Queensland.