Aviva agrees five-year extension to partnership with Connells Group
Aviva has secured a significant five-year extension to its exclusive distribution agreement with the UK’s largest estate agency Connells Group, to provide its mortgage and rental customers with protection insurance.
The extension to the partnership agreement, first formed between Aviva and Connells Group in 2017, is testament to the success of the existing partnership between the two leading brands, and to the confidence in Aviva’s range of protection propositions.
With the acquisition of Countrywide by Connells Group completed in March 2021, the partnership provides an opportunity for Aviva to distribute its life insurance, critical illness cover and income protection cover through more than 1,250 high street estate agency branches, via Connells Group’s teams of mortgage consultants.
The enlarged Connells Group accounts for around 10% of all new estate agency instructions and had more than £30bn worth of mortgage applications submitted in 2020 across its entire business.
This new agreement covers the majority of estate agency brands now held by Connells Group and The New Homes Group.
Daren Boys, Protection Portfolio Distribution Director at Aviva said: “We are delighted that Aviva continues to be the partner of choice for Connells Group and that we can deepen our close partnership. We already have fresh joint developments in the pipeline that will help drive further efficiency, improve the customer journey and protect even more customers’.
Adrian Scott, Connells Group Mortgage Services Director, said: “We are really pleased to extend our successful partnership with Aviva with a new, single, long-term agreement for our estate agency business. Aviva provides a suite of great products for our customers, and we look forward to building on our strong relationship by developing into new areas over the coming months.”
Deutsche Bank and Deutsche Sporthilfe extend their partnership until at least 2023
The partnership between Deutsche Bank and Deutsche Sporthilfe (German Sports Aid Foundation), which has existed for 20 years, will continue. Both sides have reaffirmed their successful cooperation and extended the contract for another three years. Deutsche Bank has been a partner of the foundation since 2001 and one of its five national sponsors since 2008.
“We are delighted to continue to stand alongside the Sports Aid Foundation and the Olympic and Paralympic athletes. It is impressive what top student athletes achieve every day. They are role models for us and for society. That’s why we want to keep on giving special support to top athletes who combine competitive sports with their studies,” says Christian Sewing, Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Bank.
“By extending the partnership, Deutsche Bank is sending an important signal in challenging times. We are very grateful that the athletes can continue to count on this strong support from the business world in their efforts to master the difficult balancing act between top-class sports, their studies, and career entry,” explains Thomas Berlemann, Chairman of the Board of Deutsche Sporthilfe.
The Deutsche Bank Sports Scholarship remains at the heart of the partnership. With this program, Deutsche Bank supports up to 300 top student athletes, enabling them to cope with the dual burden of sports and studies and encouraging them to continue their dual careers. To date, 2,128 athletes have benefited from the sports scholarship amounting to 300 euros a month. Together, the athletes aided by the program have won gold 818 times at the Olympic Games, Paralympics, and World and European Championships.
Deutsche Bank draws attention to the special challenges posed by the double responsibility of sports and studies as part of its #reachmygoals social media campaign featuring top student athletes. Scholarship holders such as Malaika Mihambo, world champion in the long jump and Sports Scholarship Holder of the Year 2014, are also involved in the bank’s advertising campaigns.
In addition, a “Sports Scholarship Holder of the Year” has been chosen from among the recipients of the Deutsche Bank Sports Scholarship since 2013. The prize-winners have included Olympic javelin champion Thomas Röhler (2018), long jump world champion Malaika Mihambo (2014), and Olympic field hockey champion Martin Häner (2013). In 2020, wheelchair basketball player and psychology student Annabel Breuer was the first Paralympic athlete to win the award.