Breakfast at the Gherkin is high spot of Fig’s celebrations
Members of the Fig board celebrated the group’s 10th anniversary and joined other distinguished guests in the prestigious surroundings of London’s eyecatching Gherkin building.
And, in an atmosphere of celebration, there was time to reflect on how the partnership was born, the strength of its current position, great optimism for the future – and messages of congratulation.
Although full of fun, the breakfast event underlined the serious message about the Norwich area's continuing evolution as a leading international financial services destination.
Sponsored by Swiss Re and held at its office at 30 St Mary Axe (better known as the Gherkin), the reception started on a light note with Fig presenting each guest with a Norfolk-produced boxed individual champagne truffle.
Guests from the City of London included Wendy van den Hende, Chief Executive of the Personal Finance Education Group, the independent charity helping schools teach personal finance; and Sarah Thwaites, Deputy Chief Executive of the Financial Skills Partnership (previously the Financial Services Skills Council); along with representatives from the London Stock Exchange, TheCityUK and UK Trade and Investment.
Fig Director Marjorie Eade outlined the group's role and showed a short DVD of financial industry highlights over the past 10 years, emphasising Norwich's status as a major centre. She stressed that East Anglia achieves the highest productivity in the UK of financial services staff based outside London - at almost £90,000 per employee.
Robert Cunliffe, Life and Health Client Manager at Swiss Re, hosted the event and explained how his company's landmark deal with Aviva led to a subsidiary, Admin Re, setting up in Norwich in 2008 with 650 staff (TUPE transferred from Aviva). Since then, it had successfully completed the transfer of three million Aviva legacy policies. He said the Norwich office was the jewel in the crown of Admin Re's operation.
Stephen Harris, Senior Vice President of Marsh Marine Practice and Principal Lecturer of the popular Marsh Marine Insurance courses, praised the National Skills Academy in Norwich and its value to the industry.
“It provides the world class lecturing facilities and a pleasant city environment that are necessaryfor Marsh'sMarine insurance courses, which attractdelegates fromthe insurance, banking, legal, ship owning and transportation industries around the world,” he said. “Already this year, thefive-day courseshave attracted delegates from Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Russia, South Korea and 11 other countries.”
Chris Starkie, who is working closely with the New Anglia LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) covering Norfolk and Suffolk, told guests how Fig was finding ways to also support Suffolk financial businesses. In keeping with the celebrations, he read some goodwill messages.
From Virgin Money: “Norwich is incredibly important to the growing Virgin Money business. The company was founded in Norwich in 1995 and employs more than 250 staff in the city with ambitious plans for growth, including one of the first customer lounges and bank branches as we deliver our strategy of becoming a leading UK bank.”
And from Graham Singleton, Chief Executive of Admin Re: “Congratulations to Fig on your anniversary. Through our sponsorship, we have been presented with unique opportunities to collaborate with the other local key players in our industry. Events like the recent student convention allow us to engage directly with our community and demonstrate the significant contribution the industry makes to the success of Norfolk and Norwich as a place to do business.”
Afterwards, guests enjoyed breathtaking views of the City of London from the top floor of the Gherkin.
Marjorie commented: “Looking down on the Square Mile, with the City of London and those famous financial names at my feet, was a reminder of how far Fig has come in 10 remarkable years. Now we must build further on that recognition of the Norwich area as a leading financial services centre, not just by the Square Mile but across the UK and overseas.”
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