Aviva: We believe in the UK despite the ‘doom and gloom’

The UK’s economic fundamentals remain attractive for business despite the “doom and gloom” that has plagued the country, the chief executive of Aviva has said.

Speaking at the British Chambers of Commerce’s annual conference today, Amanda Blanc, who was given a Damehood for her services to business in the New Year’s Honours List, was upbeat about the potential of British business provided the political environment stabilises.

“There has been a lot of doom and gloom around the UK in recent times, and some of that sentiment is justified,” she said in a speech. “But there is also no getting away from the fact that there are some great fundamentals to build on.”

“We have a huge, well-respected financial services sector – the second largest in the world… We also have fantastic life sciences,” she said.

Blanc is one of the best known and most respected bosses in the UK, having been appointed to run Aviva, a FTSE 100 insurer, in 2020.

Blanc, however, was scolding of the unstable environment in which businesses have been forced to operate since Brexit, saying: “I don’t believe it’s controversial to say that the only real certainty business has had since 2016 is uncertainty.”

But the effects of any political stability would only be realised if the business community were to then “put its money where its mouth is”.

Blanc continued: “The Association of British Insurers has estimated that £100bn of capital is waiting to be invested… Aviva [and many other businesses are] ready to invest even further in the projects that will provide the economic growth and investment that we urgently need in the UK.”