Sparta Global & Admiral
Admiral partners with Sparta Global to accelerate digital transformation and secure a reliable pipeline of high-quality technology talent.
“The process of onboarding talent was really quite easy. The hard work had been done by Sparta Global, even before they hit the ground working with us. Spartans have been through the training period with Sparta and they have these skills that are there and ready to be developed. The hard work had already been done before they even got here.”
Admiral Group is a UK-based insurer headquartered in Cardiff, Wales, employing more than 10,000 people. Since its founding in 1993, Admiral has grown from vehicle insurance into home, pet, and life cover, becoming one of the UK’s leading insurers – with technology central to its success and a 600-strong tech department driving progress across Cloud and DevOps. Renowned for its culture and consistently recognised in the Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For and Great Place to Work rankings, Admiral is a business that takes people seriously. Despite a thriving technology function already running apprenticeships, internships, and graduate programmes, Admiral faced challenges in sourcing the breadth and depth of talent required to bridge the digital skills gap and support its large-scale operations. With millions of insurance customers across home and car, Admiral needed flexible, high-quality technologists who could add value immediately whilst bringing diversity and fresh perspectives to its teams – and so in 2020, Admiral turned to Sparta Global to find a solution.
Building Long-Term Digital Capability Across the Business:
Working closely with Admiral, Sparta Global deployed Spartans across Software Engineering, DevOps, Data, Test Automation, and Business Analysis – integrating seamlessly into four key departments to support delivery from day one. Supported by Sparta Global’s award-winning training and ongoing account management, Spartans were well-prepared to hit the ground running, with regular engagement between Sparta Global and Admiral’s line managers ensuring smooth transitions and consistent performance. A standout success came through a dedicated programme to source and train Guidewire Engineers – a rare and highly sought-after skillset. Sparta Global attracted and upskilled candidates in Java Development before preparing them for specialist Guidewire training with Admiral, with all candidates passing their initial certifications and creating a cost-effective, sustainable solution for Admiral’s large-scale system upgrade. To date, 57 Spartans have joined Admiral across Operations, Digital, Claims, Policy, and Data Warehouse teams, with nearly 90% securing permanent roles or extensions. Their technical skills, ambition, and diverse perspectives have strengthened team culture, accelerated digital transformation, and provided a scalable, sustainable solution to Admiral’s talent challenges – with plans already in place to deliver another Guidewire cohort and expand internal expertise further.
