Norwich city centre has been chosen by Aviva as the natural home for its Norwich operations as it relocates up to 1,500 colleagues from Broadland Business Park later this month.
The move came after the FTSE 100 insurance company confirmed earlier in the year that it would be moving to flexible working arrangements for colleagues and consolidating offices across the UK. This means employees based at the insurer’s offices at Broadland Business Park will relocate to its Surrey Street site to focus its operations in the city centre.
The city council very much welcomes Aviva’s commitment to the city – a move which echoes a similar approach being taken by the council in response to the pandemic as it starts to safely welcome back teams to City Hall later in the year, in line with the government’s roadmap.
Alan Waters, leader of the city council, said that while this demonstrated big employers such as Aviva and the city council were clearly in favour of flexible working, it also acknowledged the importance of keeping a city centre base as vital to the continued success of businesses and cities.
Cllr Waters added: “This move signals a firm commitment from Aviva and a clear acknowledgement of the importance of Norwich in the company’s business plans in light of their decision to move employees from Broadland Business Park and focus their operations in the heart of the city.
“With the easing of lockdown, this is a vital time in the city’s recovery from Covid and Aviva’s decision to retain East Anglia’s regional capital city as a key location is a clear indication of ongoing support for local businesses on the high street.
“Continued investment in Norwich, in all its forms, will be crucial to helping us deliver some of the key themes and aspirations set out in Norwich’s 2040 City Vision and will also help to cement the city’s future as being a key player of modern administration.”
Karen Paterson, Aviva’s property director commented: “The way we use our work space is changing and our offices will become places which inspire creativity and collaboration.
“As a modern employer, we want to provide our people with flexible working arrangements while ensuring we meet the needs of our customers. In future we believe most of our people will choose a mix of home and office working and as a result we are able to consolidate our property requirements and base all of our Norwich colleagues in our city centre site.
“For the moment, in line with government advice, most of our colleagues continue to work remotely. However, our offices remain open and Covid secure for the very small number of critical workers who are not able to work from home.”
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