Almost five years to the day Amlin Bermuda moved into its former offices in the Bermuda Commercial (BCB) building.Today the Class of 2005 reinsurer is settled in its new business address of 141 Front Street fresh from a launch party on Thursday night.During that time the company has grown from a staff of four underwriters brought in from London when it was formed in 2005 to a 45-strong team, including 30 Bermudians or spouses of Bermudians, and is looking to continue expanding in the future.But some things have not changed, such as their landlord Sir John Swan.Like every business in the global catastrophe reinsurance market, Amlin has faced some big challenges and suffered its share of losses over the past year, having reported a group-wide net loss of £151.7 million ($250 million) in the first half of 2011, compared with a profit of £84.5 million in the year-earlier period, due to record claims from natural disasters in Japan, New Zealand and Australia.Stuart MacKellar, managing director of Amlin Bermuda, said that despite the unprecedented frequency of natural disasters over the last few months, the company still had its fundamentals in place and was a strong business and was well-placed to take advantage of growth opportunities.And he expects the company’s results to improve in the second half of the year given the lower levels catastrophe activity of events.Last year Amlin completed the redomestication of its Bermuda-based reinsurance unit to Switzerland, but according to Mr MacKellar the move has had little impact on its operations here.“We have pretty much continued business as usual,” he said. “It has gone from being Amlin Bermuda Ltd, a reinsurance company incorporated in Bermuda, to becoming part of Amlin AG, a Swiss incorporated company.“It still operates and executes the same business model as before and has an ‘A’ rating from AM Best and S&P.“The big advantage for the Amlin group is that it has enabled us to launch a third reinsurance platform in Switzerland.”Starting life in Bermuda on December 1, 2005 to catch the wave of property rate increases in early 2006, Amlin Bermuda set up originally in IAS’s offices in Church Street prior to deciding to move to the BCB building in September that same year.Having signed a five-year lease which was due to expire in August this year, the company looked at its growth projections and conducted a feasibility study of its requirements, reviewing the property market to find a space that fitted its open plan and interactive style.“We looked around and there weren’t that many offices where you could have a sizeable open plan space,” said Mr MacKellar.“This place suited our needs perfectly with the added bonus that you can look out of every side of the building offering some spectacular views.“Another attraction of choosing this building was Sir John Swan being our landlord and he treated us very well as a tenant at the BCB building and there was no doubt about him continuing as a suitable landlord.”Employing the services of Lindberg & Simmons as architects and designers and Bermuda Interiors as the main contractors, the company set about customising their fit out in February, with Mr MacKellar, who was previously an accountant with KPMG before joining Amlin six years ago, using his experience of overseeing several such projects, not least at the BCB building, to produce a good office environment which flows from department to department and room to expand as the business grows.Meeting its target of opening in late September, the company moved out of their old offices on at the close of business on Friday September 23 and were fully operational in their new premises by the following Monday morning.Comprised within its offices on the fifth floor are meeting rooms, including one for video conferencing, a lunch room, a copy room and central storage, to go with its state-of-the-art surrounds.Other considerations were the company reducing its carbon footprint and electricity bill, which have been achieved through the self-controlled lights, solar shades and air-conditioning built into the design.Meanwhile the staff have been able to enjoy the extensive facilities including the gym, underground parking and soon to be opened bistro.“We have been here nearly three weeks and by all accounts the staff are very pleased and impressed with the new offices and are happy to be working here,” said Mr MacKellar.Fellow insurers Ironshore and MS Frontier Reinsurance Ltd moved into the building last year and Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd is set to join them within the next month.In the future Mr MacKellar said that Amlin aims to continue growing the operation, building on its success of strengthening its underwriting teams and adding new lines in order to diversify the business further.“We are still very committed to the Bermuda marketplace,” said Mr MacKellar, who is on the board of the Association of Bermuda International Companies.“There is no doubt that Bermuda is facing many challenges at the moment and the Premier and Government are looking hard at ways to improve and stimulate the economy and industry groups.“One of our main strengths is intellectual capital and I think we have got to try and preserve that and stimulate its growth because it drives the success of the economy.”