Thousands of jobs at Norwich Union were under threat last night after Aviva, the parent of the UK household insurer, unveiled a plan to cut £300 million in costs at its UK arm over the next two years.

Andrew Moss, Aviva’s new chief executive, said redundancies would be inevitable as he revealed the savings target as part of a raft of new targets presented to investors in New York.

“It would be naive to say there will not be any further job reductions,” Mr Moss said, although he declined to be drawn on specific numbers.

Aviva shares fell almost 2.25 per cent to close at 719½p as the City reacted to the presentation, dubbed Aviva Vision. It had been seen as Mr Moss’s first big chance to detail his strategy since taking charge in July.

Bruno Paulson, an analyst at Sanford Bernstein, described the plan as “sensible rather than overly exciting”.

The UK job cuts come on top of previously announced plans to shed 4,000 staff and prompted an angry reaction from unions. Aviva said yesterday that 2,000 staff had already left through natural wastage and the company was on track to have cut a further 2,000 by the end of the year.

Andy Case, national secretary at Unite, said his union was “angry and disappointed” and would try to secure a commitment against compulsory redundancies.

“While there is no mention of actual job losses as yet, staff will obviously be unsure of their future in the light of this news,” he said, adding that Norwich Union workers were still reeling from previous losses.

Norwich Union employs 30,000 of Aviva’s 32,000 staff in the UK, including 7,000 at its regional centre in Norwich. Staff in York, Sheffield, Southampton and Perth are also likely to be hit.

However, Mr Moss said: “Our savings will be reached by a variety of means, not just by cutting jobs.”

A Norwich Union spokesman said that it was too early to go into detail, but initial losses were likely in IT and marketing. He pointed out that the company advertises for about 5,500 staff each year and that some vacancies in administration and call centres were likely to be withdrawn.

Further jobs are likely to be contracted out to third parties, he added. Less than two weeks ago, Aviva struck a deal with Swiss Re, the reinsurer, involving 1,000 staff administering life and pension policies.

At its New York investor day, Aviva pledged to expand new business sales of long-term savings in the UK “at least as fast as the market”. It said this must not come at the expense of margins so Aviva can remain the number one player in the market. In August, Aviva reported an 8 per cent drop in interim operating profits to £1.54 billion as its UK arm suffered losses from the June and July floods.

In Europe, the plan is to increase sales of long-term savings by at least 10 per cent a year over the next three years. Profits in the UK must grow at least as fast.

Aviva paid £1.6 billion for AmerUS, the American insurer, two years ago, and said it aimed to double new life business in the US within three years of making the acquisition.

The company has been particularly keen to push the success of its division in the United States, which accounts for 9 per cent of its long-term savings business and is seen as a big growth opportunity.

In Asia-Pacific, Aviva wants to grow long-term savings by at least 20 per cent until 2010. Even if successful, it would still lag behind its rival, Prudential, which grew first-half life sales in the region by more than 50 per cent.

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