Aviva overtaken by affairs

The romance, which first began to leak in the Evening Standard's City Spy on Tuesday, involved the insurance giant's chief executive Andrew Moss and Deirdre Moffat — a human resources manager at Aviva — whom Moss had seconded to work in his office.

The chief executive, a father of four who was paid £2.2 million last year, has now left his family for a long-term relationship with Moffat. She recently left Aviva.

Leaked details forced chairman Lord Sharman to make a statement that Moss retained his "full confidence".

But Aviva last night cancelled a planned interview which had been set up to announce its shift to a new pan-European strategy. The group is centralising its continental European operations in a holding company in low-tax Ireland.

The company's announcement was made by European head Andrea Moneta who, in a coincidence that will cause more red faces, is also the boss of Moss's lover's husband — head of HR for Aviva in Europe.

Moneta refused to talk about the affair today but instead issued a statement claiming that Aviva was making "a quantum leap in Europe".

It already operates in 15 European countries, where income contributed 44% of operating profit in the first half of the year.