AVIVA

Nichols were commissioned to design a fresh approach and bring about strategic change, enabling Aviva to maximise the benefits of its journey through merger and acquisition.

Challenge
Aviva is a British multinational insurance company and a market leader in an industry under continual regulatory scrutiny. It faces challenges in an increasingly competitive and on-line marketplace while under pressure to realise savings promised to investors.

Having previously helped Aviva through the mergers of CGU and Norwich Union, Nichols was assigned to define and implement a series of transformational change programmes across the business.

Experience
Following the merger with CGU, we initiated and led a programme to rationalise the production and distribution of general insurance products and operations. Deploying innovative technology, we helped establish on-line business operations, and an entirely new business model.

We led the effort to outsource the back-office and customer facing general insurance operations and helped to rationalise the mobile workforce. We then created Programme Management Offices and transformed the capability of the project management community through new management frameworks, training, coaching and mentoring.

Benefits
Nichols enabled the client to rise above the detail and express plans in terms that were meaningful and acceptable to both senior managers and those involved in the planning. In each programme, we helped the business to set priorities based on business opportunity and threats from the competition and the regulator, and to introduce new initiatives incrementally to build confidence and momentum. Aviva was then able to make full use of the benefits of its journey through merger and acquisition.