Aviva and Friends Life staff were told yesterday (15 June) if their jobs were in jeopardy as a result of the latter’s acquisition.
Over the next eighteen months, Aviva confirmed it will be closing offices in Salisbury, Stretford and Salford.
There will be a reduced presence in Dorking, but Aviva bosses confirmed it will remain a specialist site for the corporate pensions business. It will also stay put, but “have a reduced presence”, in Exeter and Manchester city centre.
According to bosses, any role reductions which may occur as a result of Aviva’s integration with Friends Life will form part of the potential reduction of 1,500 roles announced back in January.
A spokesman for Aviva said: “We appreciate this is disappointing and difficult news for some of our employees and we are helping our people through this process, providing a range of support and advice, and consulting with employee representative bodies about these changes.”
The statement added that the changes will happen between now and the end of 2016 and the group will look to minimise the impact by offering redeployment opportunities where possible.
“We have confirmed today that Aviva’s core locations in the UK will be Bristol, Norwich, Perth, Sheffield and York,” said the spokesman, adding that these sites will be supported by a number of specialist and trading sites across the UK.
These specialist trading sites include: Belfast, Birmingham, Bishopbriggs, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Croydon, Dorking, Exeter, Isle of Man, Eastleigh, Glasgow, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Southend and Worthing.
The group’s headquarters will remain in London.
emma.hughes@ft.com
