New Aviva deal hailed as boost to One Direct Athlone HQ

A new deal which will see One Direct, the An Post insurance subsidiary, take over Aviva's branch-based private motor and home insurance trade in Ireland has been hailed as a great boost for the business in Athlone. However, An Post has said it is too early to say if any new local jobs will on foot of the news for One Direct, whose headquarters is located in Athlone. A spokesperson said that it is too soon for that kind of detail and specific locations at this stage. "It's a great boost for One Direct in Athlone as it is the headquarters," Anna McHugh from An Post stated, refusing to be drawn on whether or not any new posts will come down the tracks when the details of the deal are ironed out over the coming months. The company already employs over 102 people from their base in the Athlone Business Park on the Dublin Road. However, Ms McHugh confirmed that 59 Aviva branch staff will transfer over to One Direct, mainly to post office branches in areas close to current Aviva offices. The closest local Aviva office is located in Mullingar. These staff will provide a dedicated on-the-ground insurance sales service for Aviva customers transferring to One Direct as well as for An Post customers. A referral service will also be provided across the Post Office retail network. Aviva engaged in a tender process recently for the sale of its general insurance branch network business. Following a detailed evaluation of all the responses to the tender, One Direct was been selected as the preferred partner for Aviva motor and home insurance trade. Established in 1999, One Direct is a wholly owned subsidiary of An Post which already sells a broad range of general insurance products, with private motor and home cover underwritten by Aviva. The next phase of the process, involving due diligence and legal agreements will take a number of weeks and the proposed transfer is expected to be complete by mid-September, An Post confirmed. Both One Direct and Aviva will work together to ensure a smooth transition of this business. "For One Direct overall this is very good news. It is in line with An Post's policy to develop subsidiary business, One Direct being one of the most successful," a spokesperson for An Post added. Welcoming the deal, Chief Executive of An Post, Donal Connell, said An Post's retail network is the largest in the country and provides unparalleled geographical reach, with over 1.7 million customers visiting a local post office each week. "We continue to grow the suite of products and services available to our customers; recent examples being the addition of foreign exchange and our Postfone mobile phone service. "This is a very positive development for One Direct and for An Post and is fully in line with our stated strategy of developing new, relevant, value-for-money income streams," he concluded.