Hello, I'm John Kitson, and this is my blog.

Picture this. The BIBA conference, a hundred or more brokers, late at night in a hotel bar, a great atmosphere and sense of goodwill. Not too difficult an image to conjure up?

Add to that a stand brimming full for 2 whole days, a team that felt like it was on top of its game, a new CEO, listening and talking to brokers and business being done all round.

To find out more or make a donation, please visit www.aviva.co.uk/1day

Transcript

Janice – “Hi everyone. Just sitting here reflecting on what a difference a year makes, so this time last year we were gearing up to become Aviva. Now it seems we’ve been Aviva forever. I’m just fresh from the BIBA conference, where we had a fantastic time with the buzz around our stand, the feedback from brokers and the way they are feeling about Aviva at the moment is fantastic and again what a difference a year makes.”

Even as I start this blog I know it has the potential to be somewhat random. I start the week of BIBA a bit bleary eyed, on the 7.10 train from Norwich, after a great weekend. Darrell and I spent Saturday night with John and Jennifer in Southwold, and they were in great form. Although I have to say, spending too much time with someone who constantly reminds you that life free of corporate stress is fantastic could get a bit tiresome, and he did mention it a time or twenty. For the many of you who’ve asked me what he will do next, I can confirm exactly what I’ve said all along, he’ll enjoy life to the full, but never again in a corporate world.

Then on Sunday England won the cricket world cup!!!!

Whoever said insurance was dull? Back when I used to buy helicopters for a living maybe, if I thought about it, I might have thought that comparatively it was the duller option. But events of the last week or so have proved that not to be the case.

Is it me or have the Daffodils been a long time coming this year? Over the last week we’ve seen the very first signs of spring after a winter that felt like it would never end.

A bit of sunshine seems to put a smile on most faces, certainly mine as the first daffs appeared in my garden last week. This coming weekend we alter the clocks. Losing an hour of any weekend is hard, but driving home in daylight makes it all worth it.

I am an avid reader. If I’m honest I like feel-good books, a bit of escapism. I’ve worked out that it’s impossible to switch my brain off, to stop my mind wandering to the latest work issue, so I have to make sure I occupy it in other ways and reading becomes like therapy.

The feedback on the video blog came flooding in, we even made backchat, seems most of you appreciated my willingness to make a fool of myself! I wonder once John has departed will I manage to force myself out of my comfort zone quite so much, in a strange sort of way I hope so, though maybe a purple mermaid costume is a once in a lifetime thing!

I can’t believe it’s the first Friday in Feb, 5 weeks into my new job, with my new boss who is out and about getting to know as many brokers as possible.  Like most I spent January trying to exercise, be healthier and cut down my alcohol intake, although sometimes I think I’m in the wrong job for all that, plus the fact I’m far too easily led astray.

Maybe I should dedicate my first blog in my new role to confirming that Aviva’s broker strategy is unchanged. But I won’t because you’ll hear that lots and lots from Mark and David in the next few weeks and months.

It’s the last Friday in October, it’s five’ o’clock on a Friday afternoon and it’s dark. I can’t stop yawning, so maybe it’s fast approaching time to go home.

Somebody asked me how I was yesterday and I answered with a really enthusiastic and genuine “I’m great”, which I am, they were completely taken aback, said “there’s not much great around at the minute”, maybe it’s that time of year.

Looking back over my old blogs, you might get the impression that I have lots of holidays…….I don’t, just the average amount, I do seem to talk about them a lot, so I’ll apologise upfront as I’m about to do it again.

I just got back from holiday last Wednesday, I normally wait until after the summer rush then sneak off when everyone else is back, it means everywhere is quieter and we can really escape it all.

Now it’s been quite a week for one reason and another. Whenever I write the blog I’m always looking for the gem of an idea, something interesting to write about.

Not so last week, as Aviva hits the headlines. Behind every headline there is a story, the story this time isn’t mine it’s John’s. The only thing I can add to the many, many press interviews John has given is from my heart. And that’s just pure and simply how much I’ll miss him. Relationships like ours are a rare thing in business, and like all wonderful things it had to end sometime. We’re still together for another 6 months and I intend to make the most of it. As for the speculation about me, don’t write me off just yet, I intend to be around for a long time to come.

As my colleagues are all returning from their holidays,

And a wonderful warm dry summer in Norfolk turns to Autumn overnight,

And I get drenched getting off the train at 9 in the evening and drive home in the dark,

As the world departs for its annual hols you’re stuck with me again, sorry! John is off for a few weeks, and so are many others, and I’m planning to enjoy the peace and quiet.

There is no doubt that life is full of ups and downs, highs and lows, peaks and troughs. Much as I’d love it to be the case that’s probably no less true now we’re Aviva that it was when we were Norwich Union, or as it has been through most of my career. You’re probably already thinking “what a revelation Janice, have you got nothing better to do with your time than think up such pearls of wisdom”…bear with me there is a point to all this.

It’s mid year appraisal time, as you can imagine appraisals with John are a bit different, mine went something like this

John: Looking back on the last 6 months what are the headlines

Me: Well relationships with consolidators seem to be a continued  theme, have we fallen out with them, are we making friends with them, even when nothing’s happening it’s forever in the headlines……

I joined the company that was last week rechristened Aviva 9 years and 2 months ago, 6 weeks after the CGU, NU merger was announced. You could say I never really belonged to a “legacy company”. As my colleagues swore allegiance to General Accident, CU, NU and L&E, it was really clear to me that people form allegiances to brands over many years and real passion and loyalty underpins these allegiance.

It’s 7 weeks since I wrote my first ever blog, it hasn’t turned me into a blog addict, a ‘Twitterer’ or a ‘Facebook’ regular. I like talking too much to ever do all my communications via virtual means, any of you who’ve met me will know that to be the case.

Hi I’m Janice.

I’m now doing something I’ve never done before, even in these days of technology, blogs and twitters, it seems like everybody’s at it but me. I’ve managed to survive without ever writing a blog. This week, I’ve decided to get in on the act so I’m writing a guest blog for John.