Within months of taking charge of Aviva in 2020 Dame Amanda Blanc had hired one of the insurance industry’s rising stars in Adam Winslow to help her push through a wide-ranging overhaul of the business.
Four years later, she is locked in a £3.3 billion takeover battle with her former colleague after Aviva lodged a surprise bid for Direct Line, which Winslow, 45, has run since March.
Aviva’s tilt at its troubled rival, which has been rejected, has stunned the City, not just because a deal would reshape Britain’s insurance industry. It has also thrust into the spotlight the relationship between Blanc, 57, and Winslow, a pair who have been dogged by rumours of tensions since it emerged last year that Winslow was leaving Aviva