A bit of history.
Well, we’ve come a long way since 1696. That’s how far back we can trace
our history – to when the Hand in Hand started selling fire insurance in
Tom’s Coffee Shop, Lombard St, London.
We acquired the business over a hundred years later. And now it’s one of
a number of famous names we’ve bought and merged with, including
Commercial Union, General Accident and Norwich Union.
These brands have sold famous policies, covering the Great Exhibition of 1862
(for £450,000) for example. They’ve paid historic compensation claims –
the contract covering the disappearance of the 1981 Derby winner, Shergar,
for one. And they’ve set records for raising more funds through a Stock
Exchange floatation than any other British firm (£2.4 billion, back in 1997).
Where we are now.
We’ve grown a lot, and branched out beyond car, home, health and travel
insurance. We’re also one of the country’s leading pension and life
assurance providers. People come to us for a range of long-term savings
and fund management services. And we also own RAC, so the UK’s motorists
can enjoy total peace of mind.
All told, there are 54,000 Aviva people in offices dotted around the UK,
across Europe, in America, Asia and the Pacific regions. We’re doing well,
too – even in this tricky climate. At the beginning of 2009, we managed
£316 billion of funds. And in the following six months, we posted profits
of £747 million. Just imagine what we could achieve with you here.