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

The above video is a message from Aviva & Railway Children in response to our 1 Day charity campaign which took place throughout June – for more information, please visit www.aviva.co.uk/1day

This is my third week in the new role as Regional Broker Director and it’s been all the usual things you would expect starting a new role; busy, a little bit daunting, but most of all exciting.

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.”

Wow, how good is this!  53 years old and I’ve actually been asked to write a piece for Janice’s Blog!

My name is Alan Drury and I work with the Broker Trading Teams across the North West of England, Nottingham and Northern Ireland.  I’ve operated in most markets in the UK but now ‘almost’ feel an honorary Northerner having lived in the North West since 1993.   I actually still like Eastenders though rather than “The Street” as my PA calls it..! It helps me keep in touch with my Essex roots.

I have a confession to make – I find General Elections fascinating. I know this puts me in a small minority of the population but we all have our crosses to bear.

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.

“Would you guest on Janice’s blog? It’s an opportunity.”

Hmmm. I tend toward Ambrose Bierce’s view; Opportunity defined as ‘an occasion for grasping a disappointment’.

John – We started, we started, sorry I started this blog with a little group of friends about a year ago and to start off the New Year 2010 we thought we’d do a little video blog as a one off, see how it goes and if its popular I think we’ll run it again, but this is the first sort of video blog we have done and we hope you like it.

What were your highlights of 2009?

Janice – One was being asked to dress as a mermaid, one of John’s wonderful ideas, which was Janice should dress as a mermaid for the key partner conference.

John interrupts – sorry Janice we are doing highlights

*Janice laughs and slaps John’s hand*

*Clip of Janice as a mermaid*

Janice – so yeah, one of them was being asked to be a mermaid.

John interrupts – that was – it was very funny

Janice – the highlight…

B: So George, we get to do the blog this week! How does that feel?

G: Damn, I thought I could have escaped without having to do any blogging. How does it work?

B: Well, you just say what’s going on in your life and hope that people reading it will find it interesting.

G: What about what’s going on in their own lives – wouldn’t that be more interesting?

B: That’s not how it works! So come on, what’s happening, what have you been up to and what are you going to do next year?

Driving down to Birmingham after attending a family funeral on a wet and dark Friday night last week, I wasn’t really feeling or expecting too much from the evening ahead at the Insurance Times Awards.

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.

I’ve been receiving a lot of feedback recently from a number of places. It started last Sunday on a cool rugby pitch in Norfolk where my son Tom had just finished an under 8’s training session and the coaches came across to me to give me some positive feedback on his progress.  To give this some context it’s been a tough start to the season for Tom having moved up two teams, leaving behind his school mates and its fair to say he’s experienced some difficulty staying on the park during matches due to some over-exuberance in the tackle and a desire not just to take the tag (its non-contact until next year) but often the opposing player as well! Roll on next season.

Take you back 4 weeks…

“Kitson leaves to go fishing” – screamed the papers. (Ok it was shouted, ok whispered and well a few papers- well ok Insurance ones).

“You’re not going fishing are you…that’s a lie…it must be”…came the email traffic.

“You’ll be back anyway…You’ll miss the cut and thrust…if not the money…!”

“Were you sacked? that’s the rumour…”

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.

“So what will you miss in ‘Brokerland’, John?”

“Don’t you mean who?” I said.

“OK, who…?”

“John, can you pick up a new role….can you take us back to number 1 for personal lines in the broker market……oh, and do it in 2010 please…..oh, and take the brokers with you by becoming the Aviva face on personal lines” ……..mmmm I thought………another massive personal lines challenge I thought.

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.

Unprecedented economic conditions, thousands of claims going through our Supply Chain every week, bedding in our new Claims processes with our Suppliers and our Centres of Excellence, exciting prospects with our Brokers and changing our Brand – that’s my world at work at the moment!

Now a bit about me……………

So here I am (at last), 9 months since the birth of the Janice & John blog and 42 ‘posts’ later (see I’ve got the terminology right already, a natural!) it’s finally my turn to blog. Brian Spinks, head of sales & marketing, officially a guest blogger.

Article 1:

“Aviva clear winners in best product…head and shoulders above…with 53% of brokers saying best range”

Meeting 1:

“Service is the same as last year – good, consistent…Aviva’s still leading…nothing really to discuss John other than the little scheme idea I’ve got.”

If there has been one theme running through my life over the last six months, its change – with a capital C!

Brokers have given our new Aviva Broker site the big thumbs up (thanks for all your feedback!).  You tell us that it’s great to find everything you need in one place, from product information and the latest news to Fast Trade, our fab new quote-and-buy facility. You also say it’s easy to navigate and you like the improved referral process and being able to get copies of quotes and documents in just two clicks.

So picture the scene … it’s August 21st 2006 … 1.15pm to be precise.

I’ve been crouching behind a tree for the best part of two hours without touching the water … watching … alert … scanning the surface.

But I’m poised … really poised.

I’m Brian Wallace, Head of Aviva Risk Management Solutions.  I’m spending some time gardening this week to the sound of Jimi Hendrix playing in the background (“Little Wing” what a great song!) and thinking how well Rangers will do in Europe next season…In case you’re wondering I’m actually on holiday this week but I wasn’t going to turn down an opportunity like this was I?! Guest blogging for Janice and John, I’m up for that and the chance to put some thoughts down. Anyway, I like relaxing in the garden, getting away from it all……..but it’s funny how your mind works even when relaxed………….

On Thursday 2nd April we launched Facility 110*; a new, complementary business-placing facility that’s exclusive to Club 110 members.

It’s great news because members can now look to Facility 110 to provide underwriting solutions for risks that fall outside of Aviva’s remit.

Ta-daaaa, www.aviva.co.uk/broker, your new website is here. Take a look around. As you’ll see, it’s all about you. Your needs as a broker, what makes your job easier and which navigation works best for you.

Our newly erected Aviva Tunnel

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The BIBA conference in Manchester was a huge success. Just imagine – 1,400 brokers under one roof. Awesome.

The aisles were bursting at the seams. There were brokers, insurers and other interested parties all getting the low down on the main events of the year.

Quite a few people read this … okay, a few … well, you do!

Well, at least people give me ideas for content … and what to write about …

No, they do really … quite a lot actually …

But if it’s not about Aviva (or sort of related) then it is a no no …

Why?

GUARANTEED RETURN OF PREMIUM IF……?

So this is the context……

A customer rings. It’s urgent.

I always respond quickly…look at all the details…etc…It’s what I’m here for…

It was a Broker’s customer…OK…a rareish event.

I’m not blogging solely because I have the same initials. That’s just a coincidence! The main and most important reason I’m blogging is because of the role I perform for John and Janice. For those that don’t know me, I have worked for Norwich Union (soon to become Aviva) for 20 years, family man, Norwich born and bred and I love my football.

Is this the most stressful business environment I’ve ever been in …? (not Aviva just the world of commerce!) Generally … and for me at the moment?

That was the thing winging its way around in my head early one morning (as it does) …

So will she?

Has she?

Could she?

Did she?

I don’t spend my whole life doing the Aviva rebrand, you know.  It may seem like that if you’re one of my blog fans…OK fan. Whilst it’s critical; and we’re really pleased with the progress; it’s not the only thing in my life! …

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.

I don’t like the word “blog” so I won’t use it, but that’s what this is supposed to be (at least that’s what the Insurance Times boys tell me).

I hope it’s worthwhile for you, but give it time.

For me it has got to be a regular update on what’s happening to Norwich Union as we change our name to Aviva (no mean feat!).