Insurer Aviva to cut 1,800 jobs

Insurer Aviva, which has major offices in Sheffield and York, has said it will cut 1,800 jobs worldwide over the next three years in order to reduce costs.

Aviva, which has offices in 16 countries and a global workforce of 30,000 people, with 16,000 employees in the UK, said it aims to cut costs by £300m a year by 2022.

The firm’s other UK sites include London, Norwich, Dorking, Bristol, Perth, Eastleigh and Glasgow.

Aviva said: “Aviva will look to ensure that redundancies are kept to a minimum wherever possible, for example through natural turnover. Aviva has engaged with Unite and our employee representative bodies and will continue to consult on specific proposals.”

Maurice Tulloch, chief executive, said: “Today is the first step in our plan to make Aviva simpler, more competitive and more commercial. We have strong foundations: excellent distribution, world class insurance expertise, and our balance sheet is robust.

“But there are also clear opportunities to improve. Reducing Aviva’s costs is essential to remain competitive and this means tough decisions and job losses which I do not take lightly. We will do all we can to minimise redundancies and support our people through this.”

Aviva also announced that it would be splitting its life and general insurance businesses and manage them separately.

Tulloch said: “I am also determined to crack Aviva’s complexity, an issue which has held back our performance for too long. Today’s changes will begin to reduce complexity, cost, and duplication, enabling Aviva to be better at serving our customers and delivering stronger results for our shareholders.

“The sustainability and security of our dividend is paramount. We are focused on improving our performance to grow capital generation and cash-flow.”