Diary of an Insurer: Aviva’s Anna Stone

Monday

The day starts with the kettle on, flask out, and a large scoop o f coffee. I hop in the car and arrive at the office for 7am. I’ve always favoured an early start over battling rush hour traffic.   

As an archivist, my office is more unusual than most. The archive is accessed through Aviva’s Marble Hall. 

The marble was originally intended for Westminster Cathedral but found its way to Norwich instead – a bit of history I am particularly grateful for as I enjoy it every day. 

The archive itself is alarmed and temperature monitored, preserving the thousands of documents and objects we hold. The shelves house policy registers, bound in dark red cloth and filled with writing that is illegible to many, but with lots of practice, decipherable to me.  

Today, I’m giving an archive tour to some colleagues. Ahead of their visit, I pick out some of our most interesting exhibits, including our very first policy register from 1696, an arithmometer (an early calculator), and a fireman’s arm badge from 1774.  

After fielding questions around our insurance of Agatha Christie and an accident claim by a leapfrogging vicar, my guests depart and I lock up the archive for the evening. 

Now both of my children have headed off to university, I don’t have to dash off for the school run, but I get away in time to beat the traffic.

Tuesday

After spending yesterday with visitors, I need to catch-up on the  more solitary job of digitisation. 

To improve access to the collection, my colleagues and I take turns working in the dark, scanning documents to add to our digital  records. Our collection is a window in to how people worked and lived through history.

Our records come from the hundreds of companies that make up Aviva today, and this afternoon I turn my attention to our latest addition, Direct Line. 

The team sends a call to action to Direct Line colleagues for  their contributions, and I hope to make space on the shelves for some red telephones very soon.

Rather than heading home, I catch the train to York ahead of an exciting event tomorrow. My journey is spent looking  through digitised registers, searching for references to famous people and places. 

Wednesday

Today, I join my brand team colleagues in York on the next stop of the ‘Ask Brand Anything’ tour. 

The team  has been visiting sites across the UK, connecting with colleagues and helping bring our brand to life in their roles – while sharing a few gems from the archive too.

We invite colleagues to bring along their own Aviva treasures. Many have worked here longer than me, or have family connections to the company, and generously share documents and artefacts. I package them up carefully and send them back to Norwich, to join our growing collection.  

After a long journey home, two family members are thrilled to see me: my cats, Ebb and Flo. I adopted them when my kids flew the nest, and they keep me nearly as busy.

Thursday 

Back in the office, I’ve been asked to explore Aviva’s connection with Anglia Square, a site ripe for revitalisation in the centre of Norwich. 

With Aviva Capital Partners investing in its redevelopment, tracing our links to the area will help show why this project makes sense for Aviva.

A morning’s research often leads me down rabbit holes. After 325 years, Aviva has really seen it all – yet somehow, I still uncover surprises. 

Today it was our link to Astley’s theatre in London, as mentioned in Jane Austen’s Emma, which we insured in the 1820s. I head home, but can’t resist a few more Google searches from my sofa.

Friday

Working from home isn’t easy for an archivist, but after a busy week, I spend the morning catching up on desk research. 

When lunchtime rolls around, I always have a quick scan of the news. 

I usually manage to find a link between something going on in the world and Aviva’s history, and today’s coverage of the FA Cup jogs my memory. 

I dig out an old staff magazine from 1949, which showed colleagues being given the afternoon off to watch Norwich City in the competition, and share it on our intranet. 

After responding to a team helping a customer trace a historical policy, I log off. Friday night is the best night of the week – pizza night. This week, it’s ham and mushroom, which feels like an appropriate treat after a busy week.

Much of my job is deciding to what to keep and what to throw away. What’s left behind is our legacy, and deciding what should be included in the company’s history can feel like a big responsibility, but it’s one I am proud to have.