Taoiseach opens new Hibernian Group offices in Dublin

16th February 2007

An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern TD today (Friday 16 February) officially opened One Park Place, the Hibernian Group’s new headquarters in Dublin. Present at the opening were Richard Harvey, Aviva Group CEO, Peter Malone, Hibernian Chairman and Stuart Purdy, Hibernian CEO.

One Park Place at Hatch Street in Dublin 2 is a 200,000 square foot, state of the art building and the largest single office letting in the country. The move brings Hibernian’s 1,500 Dublin based staff together under one roof.

The three operating companies Hibernian General Insurance, previously on Haddington Road in Dublin 4, Hibernian Life & Pensions, previously on Dawson Street in the city centre, and Hibernian Investment Managers, previously at the IFSC now share one building and a common set of services. The company still retains offices in Cork and Galway and 27 direct branches around the country.

Speaking at the opening an Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern TD said:

“I know that moving to these new headquarters is an exciting time for Hibernian and I wish then every success. For the first time it brings together all 1,500 Dublin based staff from across Hibernian’s financial services. This is a symbolic move that sends a strong message about Aviva and Hibernian’s commitment to Ireland both as an attractive market to operate in and also as a significant presence in the international financial services community."

In response to an Taoiseach, Aviva CEO Richard Harvey said:

“I am delighted to be here in Dublin today and to welcome An Taoiseach to our new home. This is a great day for Hibernian. It is the culmination of more than three years of planning and enormous amounts of hard work. I would like to personally thank all staff here in Dublin for their support and commitment ”.

Hibernian CEO Stuart Purdy said:

“Today is a very special day for every single one of the 1,500 staff who work in this building. It is their hard work and effort that has brought us to where we are now. We are confident that by bringing together all Hibernian’s businesses in one central location we will deliver improved efficiencies to our customers and to our broker and bank distribution partners. The move to One Park Place has also been a further step in the integration process with Ark Life following the Joint Venture agreement signed with AIB last year”.

About Hibernian

• Hibernian Group is Ireland’s largest composite insurer, ranked first for general insurance and top three for life and pensions.
• Hibernian Group is a subsidiary of Aviva plc, the world’s fifth-largest insurance group and the UK’s largest insurance services provider (based on gross worldwide premiums at 31 December 2005), and is one of the leading providers of life and pension products to Europe, with substantial positions in other markets around the world. Aviva employs 58,000 staff worldwide.
• Aviva’s principal business activities are long-term savings, fund management and general insurance, with worldwide total sales of £41.5 billion and assets under management of £364 billion at 31 December 2006.
• Morley is the UK-based asset management business of Aviva plc. Firms within the Morley group of companies manage £169bn (€247bn) from offices around the world as at 30 April 2007.
• With a strong track record in the property arena, Morley has seven European property funds focusing on a range of sectors and markets and over the last 24 months has acquired over 50 properties in 11 countries. These funds account for over €1.1bn of European assets under management.
• In 2006 Morley Fund Management won two awards at the Central and Eastern European Real Estate Quality awards taking ‘Outstanding Company of the Year’ and ‘Investor of the Year’ for its Central European Property activities.
• The product information above is for press release purposes only; full details are contained in the product literature available from Hibernian.
• The value of property investments is generally a matter of valuer’s opinion rather than fact. In addition, property investments may not always be readily saleable and very occasionally there may be constraints on cashing in units.
• The value of investments abroad may rise and fall due to exchange rate movements.

Media enquiries:

Alan Tyrrell
+ 353 1 898 5452

Return to the previous page