At a virtual town hall meeting in early January, staff at XS Direct were briefed that the motor insurance agent and brokerage was winding down its operations over a 12-month period. It was sad news, but not unexpected – its business had fallen in recent years, while 20 per cent of their colleagues departed following a voluntary redundancy. Having seen its customer base shrink after hiking prices, it was faced with a major decision: Inject more capital or take the decision to stop taking new policies and write down its existing ones in an orderly manner. Now, however, there has…