Scots job concerns as Aviva wields axe on 1,800 posts

Falkirk-born chief executive Maurice Tulloch took on the top job in March. Picture: Contributed

Some 1,800 jobs are being axed at insurance giant Aviva over the next three years as part of a restructuring plan under its new Scots-born boss.

The group, which employs about 30,000 staff in total, including more than 2,000 people at its major Scottish sites in Perth and Bishopbriggs, said it will look to keep redundancies to a minimum as it slashes costs, with some of the role cuts coming from natural staff turnover. It is looking to to save £300 million a year.

The group said savings will also be made across central costs, contractor and consultant spend, reduction in project spend and in other areas. It has not given a split of which teams or offices will be affected, but said the cuts will be made across its UK and international operations.

Aviva also announced plans to split its UK life and general insurance businesses to "enable stronger accountability and greater management focus".

It comes as part of a revamp of the group by new Falkirk-born chief executive Maurice Tulloch, who took on the top job in March.

He said: "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."

He added: "I am also determined to crack Aviva's complexity, an issue which has held back our performance for too long."

Aviva has other major UK offices in Norwich, Bristol, Sheffield and York.

The group said its separated UK life business will be headed up by Angela Darlington, formerly chief risk officer, while previous Canadian boss Colm Holmes has been appointed chief executive of UK general insurance.

Customers will not see any changes as a result of the UK split, it said.

The combined business was previously led by Andy Briggs, who stepped down in April just weeks after he missed out on the top job. He remains with the insurer until 23 October to support an orderly transition.

Tulloch, who took over from former boss Mark Wilson, said in April he was leading a review of the UK businesses "to ensure the appropriate management structure".