Admiral Americas, one of England’s largest automobile insurers, has announced plans to open a direct-to-consumer auto insurer operations center in Richmond, Va., later this year.

The operation would open with between 40 employees and 50 employees.

The company, a subsidiary of Admiral Group, is leasing 26,000-square-feet of space in Henrico County’s Innsbrook area by the end of the third quarter 2009, according to the Greater Richmond Partnership.

The insurer projects a total of 200 jobs at the operations center by the end of its second year. Active recruiting of the first group of employees is underway, the partnership said, with “particular interest in the recently displaced workers in the region.”

Admiral Americas would be the second direct-to-consumer insurer to base operations in Virginia. GEICO opened its Fredericksburg, Va., operations center in 1989 and now is one of the largest employers in Stafford County, with more than 3,200 employees working in those offices.

Andrew Rose, president and CEO of Admiral Americas, called the company’s business model and approach “unique,” but also stressed that it is a fun workplace, where the company’s “push-up for paper” policy requires that for every piece of paper printed an employee must do a push-up.

“We’re eager to become a corporate citizen of the Richmond region and involve the community in growing our business,” Rose said in a statement. “We have a lot of fresh and exciting ideas.”

Henry Englehardt, CEO of Admiral group, added that expanding into the U.S. “has been a part of our long range growth plans, the timing is right and Richmond looks like the right location.”

“Business is good for us during challenging economic times because people are looking for ways to save money,” he said. “We just need to get on their list of consideration and we’ll grow our business.”

According to the partnership, the Greater Richmond region was selected after a six-month competition with cities such as Dallas, Chicago and Charlotte.

Rose said part of Richmond’s “great story” lies with “cost-effective real estate, quality labor force, and a welcoming business environment.”

“Another differentiating factor among the cities was the Greater Richmond Partnership’s service,” he said. “They streamlined the process for us. We’re a cost-efficient business and this free consultative service was invaluable to us.”

The Virginia Department of Business Assistance will also provide recruitment and training assistance through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program.

“This is great news for our region at a time when it’s truly needed,” Dave Kaechele, chairman of the board for the partnership, said. “It’s our pleasure to welcome another UK corporation to Greater Richmond’s growing international business community.”