Admiral creates over 200 posts to top 5,000 employees mark 10 May 2013 Last updated at 17:35 Insurance group Admiral says it is recruiting a further 236 posts in south Wales taking the number of Welsh employees past the 5,000 mark for the first time. The jobs in sales, customer service and policy renewals will be created over the next three months at centres in Cardiff, Newport and Swansea. It is the first large recruitment drive by the company in the last 18 months. In March, the insurance group announced a 15% rise in annual profits to £345m. The new jobs will see its workforce in Cardiff swell to 2,670 posts, 1,965 in Swansea, and 510 in Newport. "It's fantastic to see the business continue to expand," said Ceri Assiratti, head of Admiral's people services. Recruiting significantly We're recruiting significantly for our offices across south Wales and are looking for high quality people to help us provide great service for our customers. There hasn't been a big recruitment drive at Admiral like this for 18 months. Up till then we all got used to continued expansion and between 2009 and 2011 it experienced spectacular growth as it undercut many of its competitors at a time when car insurance premiums rose by around 50%. More recently those premiums have come down - not so good for revenue growth in the industry. Last year was the first time there wasn't double digit growth in Admiral's turnover since 2004. But it continues to make profits and it's continuing to attract new customers. We've had many successful years here in Wales and are delighted and proud to be growing further. Admiral owns brands such as Confused.com, Elephant.co.uk and Diamond, and is the UK's second biggest car insurer. Next year, the company is due to move into its new headquarters in Cardiff city centre as well as move to a new office in Newport's redeveloped Cambrian Centre. Earlier this year, Admiral marked its 20th anniversary since moving to Wales on the back of a £1m grant from the now-defunct Welsh Development Agency (WDA). When it arrived in Cardiff, the firm only had 57 staff. Now it is one of the country's largest companies, the second biggest car insurer in Britain and employs more than 4.500 people.