Barral succeeds Riley as Aviva UK commercial director

Ms Riley, formerly UK commercial director, will report to Andrew Moss, Aviva chief executive and will continue to be based at Aviva’s headquarters in London.

As part of her new role, Ms Riley will be focused on defining Aviva's global IT strategy and wil have a particular focus on ensuring that all regional teams are fully aligned to delivering its goals.

She has been succeeded by David Barral, who was previously chief operating officer in Aviva's UK life business. He will report to UK CEO Mark Hodges.

Andrew Moss, chief executive commented: “Cathryn is uniquely well placed to lead the IT function, having held senior business and IT leadership positions in both our European and UK regions. The IT agenda is crucial to our business success, and the time is right to increase the focus on technology at a board level. I am delighted to welcome her to the GEC team and look forward to her pragmatic approach and understanding of how technology can enable business success.”

Ms Riley has worked in various roles in human resources, customer services, operations and general management, for British Coal, British Airways, Coopers & Lybrand and Bupa before joining Aviva in 1996.

She joined the board of Equitable Life in August 2009 where she continues to chair the remuneration committee.