Aviva chief cheers sharp rise in share price as group’s turnaround gathers pace

Aviva rebounded from a loss of £2.9bn a year ago to profits of £2.2bn in 2013.

Shares rose nearly 10 per cent on the news, giving the former Norwich Union business a market capitalisation of almost £15bn.

David Barral told the Yorkshire Post: “Obviously we are very pleased about that. I am pleased about it for staff because it’s great for them to see that progress beginning to happen given just how tough the last 18 months has been for them.

“There was such huge personal uncertainty for the last year. We said to them there’s lots of things you can’t control but delivering a fantastic service to your customers is something that’s within your own gift.

“We had some of the best customer satisfaction scores last year that we have ever had despite all the change we put them through.

“To see the uplift in share price is clearly great for our shareholders - and that’s primarily why we are doing it - but of course our staff are shareholders too so I am pleased for them they can see some of the benefits coming through.”

Aviva axed 400 jobs in Yorkshire last year, including 300 in York.