Aviva Credit Services UK Ltd
Aviva Credit Services UK Ltd was incorporated on 7 October 1922 as Motor Credit Services Ltd. The company was established by Thomas Tilling Ltd as a sister company to the Road Transport and General Insurance Company Ltd, which had been established by the same company four years earlier.
Company History
Multiple Credit Services Cartoon & Article, GEN magazine, 1980
Multiple Credit Services Proposal, 1980
According to company records, Motor Credit Services was established
"to carry on the business of buyers, hirers, makers, builders or manufacturers of motor cars, motor and other cycles and side cars, motor coaches, wagons, vans, omnibuses etc".
In 1923, the General Accident Fire and Life Assurance Corporation Ltd acquired a 50% interest in the company and, by 1925, had purchased the remainder of the company's shares. Following its acquisition by General Accident, the company's main business focus was negotiating motor hire purchase agreements and transactions with approved hirers.
In 1969, the company changed its name to Multiple Credit Services Ltd. On 5 November 1990, it was renamed General Accident Credit Services Ltd and, on 1 October 1999, it changed its name once more to CGU Credit Services Ltd. The company name was changed on 1 June 2009 to Aviva Credit Services UK Ltd.
Key dates
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1922 | The company is established |
| 1923 | The General Accident Fire and Life Assurance Corporation acquires a 50% interest in the company |
| 1925 | General Accident purchases the remaining shares |
| 1969 | Name changes to Multiple Credit Services |
| 1990 | Name changes to General Accident Credit Services |
| 1999 | Name changes to CGU Credit Services |
| 2009 | Name changes to Aviva Credit Services UK Ltd |
Did you know...?
- A strong rivalry existed between Motor Credit Services and the Motor Traders Guarantee Corporation Ltd. In 1925, Mr Heaton, the company secretary, made a complaint to General Accident managing director Francis Norie-Miller that General Accident preferred the business of Motor Traders over that of Motor Credit Services and argued that all General Accident business should first be offered to his company. In a letter dated 13 January 1930, Francis Norie-Miller noted that
"the Road Transport have introduced 268 cases against the General Accident's 165...I am puzzled to know what reasons there is for the General - with all its Branches and connections, and its much larger Motor income - not getting as much, or more, of this Hire Purchase business as Motor Credit Services".
Head office premises
| Year | Address |
|---|---|
| 1922 - 1931 | 20 Victoria Street, Westminster, London |
| 1931 - 1967 | Grosvenor Buildings, 3 Grosvenor Place, London |
| 1967 - 1980 | General Buildings, 77/83 Upper Richmond Road, London |
| 1980 - c1987 | Becket House, 36/37 Old Jewry, London |
| by 1987 - 1998 | Becket House, 87 Cheapside, London |
| 1998 - 2002 | One Lloyds Avenue, London |
| 2002 - | St Helen's, 1 Undershaft, London |
Staff and officials
Secretary
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 1922 - 1933 | John Frederick Heaton |
| 1933 - 1951 | W Watson |
| 1951 - 1958 | W G Orriss |
| 1958 - 1968 | W Massey |
| 1968 - 1981 | L R Merriman (also manager until 1976 at least) |
| 1981 - 1982 | L W Mansfield |
| 1982 - 1983 at least | R G Macdonald |
| by 1987 - 1990 | R A Whitaker |
| 1990 - 1992 at least | D J McPherson |
Manager
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| by 1933 - 1962 | Charles W Smith |
| 1962 - 1965 | John Birnie |
| 1965 - 1966 | J Nelmes Crocker |
| 1966 - 1970 | C C Loder |
| 1970 - 1976 at least | L R Merriman (also secretary) |
| Position not listed after 1976 | |
Directors (1923)
- H Tilling
- T Wolsey
- W Wolsey
- J F Heaton
- G Wolsey
- William Low
- F Norie-Miller
- Hon Lord Morris
In the archives
The Aviva archive contains records relating to the running of CGU Credit Services between 1922 and 1997. The collection includes minutes, ledgers, print specimens, circulars for staff, annual reports and accounts, purchase and sale agreements and registers of members and debenture holders.
