Page 51 - Articulate Files

In March 2007 SL announced plans to further reduce

underlying costs by £100m per year by 2009 through
efficiency and productivity savings including 1000 staff

losses. This move was viewed as only impacting on natural

wastage as efficiency and effectiveness took hold. To this

end new initiatives for improving both efficiency and
productivity and creation of a new “retail division” under

Trevor Matthews, an addition to the company since 2004

were announced, who would be responsible for Standard

Life Bank and Standard Life Healthcare on top of running
the life and pensions arm and overseeing the cost cutting

through the elimination of overlaps and job duplications.

Moreover, these changes occurred as Standard Life
announced a strong set of profits, record-breaking new

business and a strong reduction in the number of lapse

policies.

Against these changes was the announcement of executive
pay and bonus increases, an issue that raises the question

of pay and performance, value and worth.

On Tuesday, 29 January, 2008, Trevor Matthews who was

perceived by the press to be heir apparent to Crombie, but
who it had been reported, had been told he was no longer

in the running, announced his resignation from Standard

Life to take up a new post as Chief Executive of Friends
Provident. Crombie immediately announced that he would

lead the company's UK financial services until Matthews was

replaced. This however, did not address the succession
question. Within the year Crombie would be sixty.

With strong reported results in January 2008 SL announced

that Standard Life had reinsured £6.7bn, representing more

than half of its £12bn annuity book, of its UK immediate

annuity liabilities to Canada Life International Re. In so doing