At a time of economic uncertainty, which we currently have, the sudden change of a CEO of a major Norwich employer such as Aviva can cause concern. Andrew Moss will be seen as a loss to Aviva as he had been responsible for the successful integration of 40 brands into the single Aviva brand as well as doing much to reduce costs within the organisation, including the sale of RAC. He was well known in Norwich and this change is likely to cause concern to Norwich employees.
However, Aviva have moved swiftly so as to not give time for speculations or uncertainty and Mr McFarlane has a good reputation as CEO at ANZ and for making the improvement in shareholder value at Standard Chartered. Mr McFarlane was also involved in the recent organisation structure changes so this is unlikely to be changed. Aviva has a strong brand, dedicated people many of them employed in Norwich, and a solid business foundation and so I am sure they will be able to recover quickly from this situation and continue to move forward.
Coming on the back of Lotus being in the news, reconfirms how important it is that the Chamber continues to work closely with our national brand business members to ensure as a business community we do all we can to support them.
