Aon has said it will be closing some offices after a property review as part of of the company's major restructuring.
Aon said the restructuring drive is to realign its business more efficiently around its clients' needs and that it would be maintaining its presence in the great majority of its current locations, however it added that some would be closing.
The company said it has decided that in a limited number of locations it can continue to service its clients without the need for a dedicated office in the immediate area and, as a result, over the next year the company will be closing premises in Canterbury, Cardiff, Liverpool, Norwich, Plymouth and Shrewsbury.
Aon said over the coming year the company will be deploying its people in a number of ways, including home working and the use of convenient alternative locations to accommodate the needs of clients who are currently serviced from the premises marked for closure.
Aon said it will be managing these changes carefully and will communicate fully with its clients in advance of and throughout the process.
Aon is consulting with its employees on the management of these changes and redeployment options. Relatively few job losses are expected as a direct result of the premises closures and any that do arise will form part of the proposed 750 employee number reduction announced on 5 October 2005.
In 2006 Aon will also be reducing its premises costs by relocating part of its Private Clients operations from its current Woking location to nearby Farnborough. It added that the Private Clients operating model remains the same and there will be no changes to jobs and the work carried out by the team.
Philip Gore-Randall, a main board director of Aon, said: "This isn't about withdrawing from any markets. In fact it's quite the opposite - we want to have new ways of working in place so that we can expand our activities into new locations and not be restricted by needing to have a physical presence.
"Some of the premises closures will not take place until the end of 2006, but we have decided to announce them now to give us enough time to ensure that we can thoroughly engage our clients and our people in the process."
