Zurich underlined its commitment to the island’s future leaders by supporting Gef 30 Under 30 for a third continuous year.

But what is it about the campaign that keeps the local company coming back for more? Head of International for Zurich Integrated Benefits, Nigel Simpson, says the initiative aligns perfectly with their company values.

‘We put a lot of effort into creating development opportunities for people who are relatively young, and we have an unwritten rule that 70% of our vacancies will be filled internally.

‘And, if we're going to do that, we need to develop people from the day they walk in the door.

‘So, we're keen on the summer interns, we also have “Accelerate”, which is an early in career acceleration program for talent, and it's all about trying to increase the pace at which people can move upwards, within, and around the organisation to keep it vibrant.’

This priority to support young people’s career paths and give them access to opportunities has Zurich and Gef 30 Under 30 singing from the same hymn sheet.

The local campaign celebrates the work being done by unsung heroes in the community and provides vibrant opportunities to network with people from various industries who could offer jobs and/or guidance.

Nigel has been a judge with Gef 30 Under 30 since its inception and witnessed it evolve from year to year, starting heavier in the commerce sector, moving into more community-based applicants, and, this year, seeing it become more of a balance between the two.

Zurich is the Innovation category partner this year and got the opportunity to rub shoulders with the three winners - Daniel Martin, Michael Valerga, and Matthew Collister - at the Winner’s Party.

‘The winners were very different from last year. There’re clearly some great leaders coming through. People are being recognised from right across a broad spectrum.’

When asked about why campaigns like Gef 30 Under 30 are important, Nigel believes they help give young people the confidence to go out and try something themselves, be that starting their own business or striving within their own work area.

‘I think the island’s got to attract young people to it and campaigns like this help encourage those going to university to come back and feel that they can have a platform to succeed here. The more we can highlight where young people are succeeding, the more likely we'll see young people drift back.’

The Gef 2025 30 Under 30 campaign is far from over – there are plenty more networking events happening throughout summer for this year’s winners and category partners – and the team at Zurich says it’s loved being involved again.

Nigel comments that it’s been great to be involved in Gef 30 Under 30 for the last three years and says: ‘It gets us thinking about people in Zurich who could be doing great things outside of work who should be put forward and makes us recognise the brilliant things being done in the community.’