LONDON  –  28 April 2005 – A brand new travel insurance call centre at Aon, a leading Leicester-based insurance broker, risk management and human capital consultant, officially launches today creating 120 jobs which will benefit from an unique four-day week.

Lord Mayor of Leicester, Mary Draycott, is on hand to unveil the plaque and open the call centre which will handle and process applications to the Post Office’s travel insurance scheme. Call agents on the afternoon shift will have the opportunity to meet their rugby hero, Leicester Tigers chief executive officer and former Aon employee, Peter Wheeler, who also joins the celebrations. 

The quest for local skills attracted nearly 600 applications to work in the newly refurbished offices in Vaughan Way. Aon were also committed to offering a four-day week following research* that over 80% of adults employed in regular¹ work would choose more flexible hours if the option was open to them. The survey commissioned by Aon Consulting, the pensions, benefits & human resources division of Aon, also discovered that less than one in five people (18%) said that they would prefer to stick with their regular 9 to 5, five days a week option - further endorsing the call centre’s introduction of a flexible working pattern.

Randolph Ray, client manager at Aon, said: “By investing in the skills base in Leicester, the team is able to offer Post Office customers a more efficient and friendly service. We’re proud to be supporting such a high profile client and to place Leicester as the hub for nationwide enquiries.”

Commenting on Aon’s approach to flexible working, Mr Ray added: “The most consistent message from our research is that people want the flexibility to plan their work around their personal lives.  As life expectancy increases and the make-up of the population changes, employer attitudes to working life will also need to adapt.  Employers who address this emerging trend will be able to better sustain a high quality workforce going forward.”

Hugh Stacey, head of travel services at the Post Office®, commented: “The opening of the new call centre builds on the excellent relationship we have established with Aon over the past seven years.  Aon’s high-quality telesales operation, combined with its ability to source competitive premiums, has enabled us to offer our customers even better value and service - making Post Office® travel insurance one of the top providers in the market today.”

Lord Mayor Mary Draycott, said: ”Today’s formal opening highlights the value of each call centre employee to the team and recognises Aon’s drive to give more back to the region.”

New employee, Mark Woodyatt, added: “We’ve joined from mixed backgrounds but mainly from call centre or retail jobs where we’ve enjoyed dealing with the public. However Aon has also provided training on the job so we can continue to build our skills and make the job more rewarding. The flexible hours mean I can balance work and playing gigs with my band around Leicester.”

Note to Editors:



*Aon Consulting commissioned two omnibus surveys from David Burton Associates.  The surveys were conducted amongst 1000+ adults, selected at random within Great Britain on 4 – 8 August 2004.

¹‘regular’ is termed as working from 9 to 5 or equivalent, five days a week

About Aon
Aon Corporation (www.aon.com) is a leading provider of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, human capital and management consulting, and specialty insurance underwriting. The company employs approximately 48,000 professionals in its 500 offices in more than 120 countries.  Backed by broad resources, industry knowledge and technical expertise, Aon professionals help a wide range of clients develop effective risk management and workforce productivity solutions.



About the Post Office^®
With 14,600 branches across the country, the Post Office^® is the UK’s largest retail and financial services chain in the UK.  Its network is larger than all of the UK’s banks and building societies put together. Around 94 per cent of the UK population lives within a mile of a Post Office^® branch and 28 million customers visit every week.

In conjunction with its partners, the Post Office^® offers over 170 products and services including travel and financial services (including personal loans, car and home insurance), banking services, bill payments, lottery products, licence applications, phonecards and mobile phone top-ups, and postal services. It is the largest supplier of foreign currency in the UK and is a leading provider of travel insurance.

The Post Office^® is also the biggest cash handler in the country – with more than £92 billion passing through its hands each year. 17p in every £1 in circulation goes through a Post Office® branch and around 400 million household bills are paid at Post Office^® branches each year.

[HomePhone releases only]

[The Post Office^®, or the GPO as it used to be known, was also responsible for all the nation’s telecommunications – from 1912, when a national service was first introduced, until 1981 when BT was created to operate as a separate commercial business.]

In the year ending March 2005, the Pst Office Ltd total turnover was £1,287 million. Post Office Ltd is a separate limited company within the Royal Mail Group.

To find out where your nearest Post Office® branch is call 08457-223 344.

www.postoffice.co.uk

This press release contains certain statements relating to future results, which are forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from either historical or anticipated results, depending on a variety of factors.  Potential factors that could impact results include the general economic conditions in different countries around the world, fluctuations in global equity and fixed income markets, exchange rates, rating agency actions, resolution of pending regulatory investigations and related issues, including those related to compensation arrangements with underwriters, pension funding, ultimate paid claims may be different from actuarial estimates and actuarial estimates may change over time, changes in commercial property and casualty markets and commercial premium rates, the competitive environment, the actual costs of resolution of contingent liabilities and other loss contingencies, and the heightened level of potential errors and omissions liability arising from placements of complex policies and sophisticated reinsurance arrangements in an insurance market in which insurer reserves are under pressure.  Further information concerning the Company and its business, including factors that potentially could materially affect the Company’s financial results, is contained in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Aon Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority in respect of insurance mediation activities only.