24 Aug Meet our Safire women stalwarts
Our Safire team includes some amazing women who have been with the company for ten years or more. Here are some of the ladies who have been with us the longest – over twenty years. Their names feature on the Safire Long Service Tree, which is displayed at head office to pay tribute to employees who have served the company for many years. These Safire women stalwarts truly are our head office heroines!
Shereen Jaggernath: Team Leader – Motor Department
Shereen started at Safire on 1 September 1996, making it an impressive 27 years that she has been at Safire. Her first position entailed doing admin for the Claims department. When asked what attracted her to apply for a job at Safire, she responds, “In my previous job, some of the Safire management team members were clients and I had a really good relationship with them and all the people at Safire.” Today she is Team Leader for the Motor Department, an accomplishment that she is very proud of. “Safire is my second home, and my relationship with my colleagues is a memorable journey,” she says. “Safire offers me a sense of security and lots of happiness.” Shereen has her name inscribed on the wall-mounted Safire logo at head office as one of the original shareholders of the company.
Candy Naidoo: Assistant Manager – Underwriting Operations
Candy started at Safire in September 1998 after a fortuitous introduction to the team. She explains how she met our current CEO, Pierre Bekker. “Pierre and the management team were looking for premises. The company where I worked had just retrenched Wilja and me and we were clearing out the offices that Pierre wanted to rent. He suggested I come for an interview and I got the job as receptionist.” She says of her years at Safire: “I have learnt so much and have had great mentors. I love that Safire recognised me for my hard work and the extra effort that I always put in. Working at Safire makes you look at everything with wide open eyes – if I see an advert on a shop window and there is a spelling mistake or the advert is skew, I’d think, we would never do that at Safire!” Candy is proud of helping transfer our policies from Excel to the Flexi program, and in 2019 she was involved in the move from Flexi to Nimbis that, as she says, has been “revolutionary to Safire”.
Wilja Glasgow: Underwriter – New Business
Wilja started working for Safire on 1 October 1998 as a short-term insurance underwriter. She recalls, “When Safire moved into our old offices we met the Safire managers and I was phoned a few weeks later to see if I would like to join the company. It’s now 25 years later and I am happy to say I’m still here!” She remembers the excitement of the new team. “The company was young and small, with enthusiastic, energetic young managers with lots of plans for the future and we all shared this excitement.” A quarter of a century later, she still enjoys being part of the Safire team. “I will always be grateful for the opportunity I had to become part of Safire. Over the years I’ve learnt so much about the industry; I studied to get my insurance qualifications, and I love the interaction with the brokers. We have training sessions and meetings and discussions to be equipped for the tasks appointed to us. I’ve had a good time at Safire, I’ve met a lot of interesting people, I’ve made good friends and I have learnt so much about the industry and the people.”
Jenny Reddy: Team Leader – Commercial Underwriting
Jenny started at Safire on 18 March 2001 as a receptionist at the main reception area. She says, “I was introduced to Safire via Candy Naidoo. She’d been promoted to underwriter and the company required a replacement. I’d heard lots of positives about the company, management and staff, and the amazing culture and spirit. Whilst at reception, I was taught the various aspects of underwriting and was then promoted to the underwriting team. I’m now the Commercial Underwriting Team Leader. I’ve loved being at Safire from the beginning; I’ve been given the opportunity to study and grow in the company. Safire has been my home for the past 22 years and we’ve become more like family. I am grateful and proud to be part of the Safire family and thankful for how I have grown with my career and as a person.”
The above long-serving staff members have seen Safire grow from the beginning of our licence to the successful insurance company it is today, and their dedication and contribution have been instrumental in building Safire.
Ladies, we salute you!
