George Shirley and Harry McAlister have set up Bontra AI with the aim of overcoming many of the recruitment issues that blight the industry and prevent firms from securing a consistent quality of candidates. Shirley was previously an account executive at Howden Insurance Brokers while McAlister comes from a technology background.

Bontra AI will target firms in the London Market and said it would improve the candidate matching capabilities, communication levels and overall value currently available from the recruitment sector.

Announcing the launch on social media, Shirley said: “The insurance talent market has a problem. Too many great candidates get ghosted, sent irrelevant roles and kept in the dark. Hiring teams pay a fortune for inconsistent quality candidates. We think there's a better way.”