Industry News

27 August 2010: Nucleus Financial: EDINBURGH-based Nucleus Financial has pounced on Standard Life for the third time this year to poach more key staff from the insurance giant.
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27 August 2010: Zurich Insurance hit with highest fine for data security failings: The Financial Services Authority has fined the UK branch of Zurich Insurance £2.275m, the highest ever levied for security failings, for failing to have adequate systems and controls in place to prevent the loss of customers' confidential information.
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27 August 2010: BUPA offers free health check with IP sales: New customers who buy one Bupa's income protection policies will receive a complimentary Bupa core health assessment worth £149.
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27 August 2010: Co-op may sell life arm in Britannia integration: Co-operative Financial Services could look to sell off its life insurance arm as part of its integration with Britannia Building Society.
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6 July 2010: Royal London and Royal Liver sign exclusivity deal: Royal Liver and Royal London have signed non-binding heads of terms which kick-start the due diligence process and bring the firms closer to a deal.
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6 July 2010: Speculation mounts over Aegon sell-off plan: SPECULATION is mounting that Aegon is readying its Edinburgh-based UK life and pensions business for a sale later this year as Alex Wynaendts, chief executive of the Dutch insurer, prepares to deliver a strategy update to the City tomorrow.
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6 July 2010: Worboys leaves Callcredit Marketing Solutions: Caroline Worboys has departed from Callcredit Marketing Solutions six months after a management buyout of its parent company backed by private equity firm Vitruvian Partners.
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6 July 2010: Resolution to buy Axa's UK life business in £2.75bn deal: Resolution has agreed to buy Axa's UK life business in a £2.75bn deal under its previous acquisition Friends Provident.
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5 July 2010: LONDON - Royal Mail has revamped its National Change-of-Address (NCOA) offering by expanding the service to incorporate more responsive data.: The new NCOA service will be backed using full change-of-address data gleaned from 34 million consumer records, giving users greater accuracy, as well as insight into people moving house.
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24 May 2010: Resolution defends performance: Resolution has reassured shareholders that it continues to be in dialogue with a number of possible acquisition targets.
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24 May 2010: Friends appoints merger integration specialist to board: Friends Provident has appointed former Deloitte & Touche merger integration specialist Belinda Richards as an independent director of Friends Provident Holdings and Friends Provident Group.
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10 May 2010: Friends' Matthews says up to 15% of advisers to take restricted route: Friends Provident chief executive Trevor Matthews says he expects around 10-15 per cent of IFAs to take the restricted route after the retail distribution review as the insurer revealed Sesame Bankhall is trading profitably in its Q1 results.
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10 May 2010: IFAs split on Cowdery's Pru deal: Advisers are divided over whether a Resolution takeover of Prudential's UK assets would be beneficial following reports that Resolution founder Clive Cowdery has secured funding for the deal.
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10 May 2010: Pension-age shift lifts sales at Scottish Life: NEW business sales at Scottish Life doubled in an "outstanding" first quarter after the company received a boost from changes to the rules governing pensions.
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21 April 2010: Royal London posts £404m profit: Royal London has reported EEV profit after tax of £404m for the year ending December 31, 2009, compared to a loss of £762m for 2008.
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21 April 2010: Pru admits to talks with Resolution: Prudential chief executive Tidjane Thiam has admitted to holding talks with Resolution's Clive Cowdery over the sale of the insurer's UK arm, but Thiam insists he would only contemplate a sale if the price was irresistible.
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31 March 2010: Friends Provident sells off Pantheon: Friends Provident has sold its stake in Pantheon Financial Limited, writing off £23m in the process.
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31 March 2010: Resolution says financial discipline and timetables are stalling further deals: Resolution says its "financial discipline" and vendors' timetables have stalled further acquisition deals.
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4 March 2010: Royal Mail offers advertisers transactional data: LONDON - Royal Mail has licensed postcode-level product purchase data from eBay to launch a new tool for UK advertisers.
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24 February 2010: Capita underwriting services transfer to Scottish Provident: Capita underwriting services are to transfer to Scottish Provident, meaning 80 underwriters will join the Glasgow-based insurer.
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24 February 2010: Royal London in talks to acquire Royal Liver: Royal London is understood to be in talks to buy Royal Liver two years after the Liverpool-based insurer rejected a merger deal.
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22 February 2010: Digital printers 'best placed throughout recession': Printers that diversified into digital wide-format printing have found a route for survival throughout the recession, a new Canon-commissioned study has shown.
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4 February 2010: Royal Mail's Sustainable Mail service has reached the 100 million mailings nine months after launch.

Around 75 customers have signed up to the bulk mail service, which encourages responsible behaviour by offering lower price tariffs for direct mail that meets newly developed environmental standards.

Companies can use the service if they meet criteria based on three key environmental needs - improved sustainability, minimised waste and increased recyclability.

The full Sustainable Mail specification is available on Royal Mail's website.
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25 January 2010: Mobile web still unused claims study: Around 76% of mobile phone users don't use their mobile to access the web, according to a UK-wide study into mobile habits by Essential Research.
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19 January 2010: DM targeting can still be tighter: Latest door drop statistics from the Direct Marketing Association put a brave face on declining volumes of door drop mail.
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12 January 2010: Mind the gap: It appears that marketers may have misunderstood what convinces consumers to open direct mail.
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7 January 2010: New Royal Mail Postage Prices For April 2010: Royal Mail today announced that the price of First and Second Class stamps for standard letters weighing up to 100g would rise by 2p, to 41p and 32p respectively, from 6 April 2010.
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1 January 2010: Royal Mail announces sale to help advertisers discover the benefits of direct mail: Royal Mail today announced the UK's first-ever 'DM Sale' to help advertisers who use direct mail to try new campaign tactics and encourage those that don't to discover its benefits.
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21 November 2009: Marketing chiefs: Are you spamming your customers?: Tighten up your email policy - or risk being blacklisted.
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4 November 2009: Email marketing: Email marketing may now be de rigueur but there are still lessons to learn about measurement and effectiveness, finds the latest DMA survey.
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15 October 2009: Tories to axe Child Trust Funds for majority of families: The Conservatives have announced they will only continue Child Trust Funds for the poorest families and disabled children if they win the general election.
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