Former Rock chief to head Hastings Gary Hoffman, the executive who led a push to create a new high street bank is to make a fresh start by taking the helm at Hastings, the insurer considering following Direct Line and launching on the stock market. Mr Hoffman is to become chief executive of Hastings next month after NBNK, the acquisition vehicle he ran that aimed to buy part of Lloyds Banking Group's branch network, decided in June to admit defeat and wind itself up. Hastings, one of the UK's biggest motor and home insurers and which equity analysts say is a potential FTSE 250 candidate if it floats, is set to confirm his appointment as early as Monday. The 51-year-old told the Financial Times he welcomed the chance to "get my head down" and run the business after being "very much in the public limelight" in recent years. Before NBNK, Mr Hoffman took on one of the toughest jobs in banking as chief executive of Northern Rock. He was credited with rehabilitating the lender after its nationalisation in 2008. The Financial Services Authority has approved his appointment at Hastings, which has been growing steadily since being spun off from IAG, the Australian insurer, in 2009 through a management buyout. Neil Utley, one of Britain's richest men and Hastings chairman, holds the biggest stake in the business, whose brands include Hastings Direct and which also has operations in Gibraltar. The appointment of Mr Hoffman comes as Hastings - which Barrie Cornes, an analyst at Panmure Gordon, estimated could be valued at between £400m and £600m - eyes a stock market listing. The prospect was strengthened last week when Royal Bank of Scotland successfully floated its insurance arm Direct Line, valuing the equity at £2.63bn. Esure, another motor insurer, has also been considering a listing. A flotation of Hastings remained an option, said Edward Fitzmaurice, who is to become executive chairman of the group's main UK arm. But he declined to set out a timetable. Unlike part-nationalised RBS, which was required to dispose of Direct Line to comply with state aid rules, Hasting is not a forced seller. Pre-tax profits at Hastings improved from £19m in 2010 to £31m last year. "There is now a great platform to build upon," said Mr Hoffman. The Cambridge university economics graduate, who sits on the boards of Trinity Mirror and Visa Europe, said he gained some experience of the insurance sector during a 25-year career at Barclays. His various roles at the bank included responsibility for Barclays Life as well as running Barclaycard and chairing its UK banking operations. He had been tipped as a possible chief executive. NBNK was set up by Lord Levene, former chairman of the Lloyd's of London insurance market. It held talks to buy branches from Lloyds Banking Group but they went to rival bidder the Co-operative Group.