They also advise that we consider a young co pilot (ie hours builder) but used as safety pilot when planning poor weather transits etc.
IMHO a bad idea. If you want to do this properly with 2 crew, then the co-pilot should be equally qualified (i.e instrument -rated) and experienced in 2 crew IFR operations. The only compromise is that he/she could be experienced less in terms of hours than the Captain.
If a company can afford to be in the position of buying a new EC155 in this financial climate, they must think a lot about their Chairman/Directors. The corporate insurance may stipulate 2 qualified crew. The cost of a good co-pilot would be relatively cheap in the overall scheme of things.
Captain £60-65k plus perks
Co-pilot £40-45k plus perks