Closure part of insurer’s focus to strengthen regional hub strategy

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Up to 10 jobs could go at Aviva’s engineering division in Southend, Insurance Times can reveal.

An Aviva spokesman said the decision to shut the division was part of the insurer’s strategy to focus on creating regional hubs with trading, underwriting and servicing all under one roof, enabling it to write more complex business.

The 160-strong staffed Southend office will remain and the engineering staff will be offered redeployment within Aviva, the spokesman added.

Aviva is expanding its engineering division to include construction and power, all within the corporate specialty business, but the growth will come from the hubs in London, Manchester and Birmingham, rather than the Southend division which is closing.

“We are doing this to make sure we maximise all of the opportunities in construction, power and engineering across the UK just like we have done with the corporate and specialty risks where we have created hubs,” said the spokesman.

“We are looking to create these hubs where we see the biggest areas of growth.”

He said the restructuring would also stand to benefit brokers through greater local accountability, better decision making in the regions and increasing Aviva’s presence in those markets.

Aviva currently operates its construction, power and engineering businesses in the London, Birmingham and Manchester areas.

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