The chairman of Aviva will make room for new blood at the top as the business embarks on a major plan to cut costs.

Sir Adrian Montague said he would step down this year, as soon as the company can find someone to succeed him.

Depending on how long the recruitment takes, Sir Adrian could get a chance to mark his five-year anniversary at the head of the board, having taken the role in April 2015. He had joined the insurer's board two years before.

"When I became chairman in 2015 the board asked me to commit to serve for at least five years," Sir Adrian said.

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Aviva's new chief executive Maurice Tulloch has outlined a plan which would bring major change to the insurer, pledging to run the business better. It includes a cost-cutting initiative which would see bills slashed by around £300 million a year.

In June the group announced plans to axe 1,800 jobs, just months into Mr Tulloch's tenure at the top.

The company also agreed to sell its joint venture in Hong Kong, called Blue, last year, and was in talks to find a buyer for its Vietnamese and Indonesian businesses.

Sir Adrian said: "Now that Maurice has launched Aviva's strategy, a new senior management team is in place and the board has been refreshed, it is also time for a new chairman."

Investors in Eve Sleep have given the company a vote of confidence, sending shares soaring as it said it could continue to break even in 2020, after balancing its books for the first time.

Shares had jumped 20.5%, or 0.4p, to 2.35p by around 11am on Tuesday, even as the business revealed that revenue had dropped by almost 19% to £23.8 million.

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It will come as welcome relief for investors who have seen the price of their shares plummet from 128.9p two years ago.

Eve Sleep embarked on a turnaround plan in September 2018 with the arrival of new chief executive James Sturrock, after seeing is share price nearly wiped out.

The business had fallen into the trap of investing in growth and throwing money at areas that were not paying their way.

Management on Tuesday said that attempts to focus on long-term profitability were paying off.

"We are delivering on our priorities of reducing losses and stemming cash burn as we prioritise profitability over sales growth at any cost," Mr Sturrock said.

Eve said its marketing had become more efficient, while it was bringing higher quality traffic to its website.

The changes helped management break even at an operating level in the last four months of 2019, for the first time in the company's history.

It reduced negative earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda), to a loss of £10.8 million - a 43% year-on-year drop - and it burnt through cash half as fast in 2019 as in 2018.

Mr Sturrock added: "We continue to create award-winning products ... while removing unprofitable sales and marketing.
"We are well placed to make further significant progress in 2020, with a differentiated brand position, a broader product range than peers and ongoing improvements to the customer experience, supported by a lower cost base, a substantial cash balance and no debt."

The finance chief of oil giant BP has retired eight years after taking the role and 34 years with the business.

Brian Gilvary will be replaced by Murray Auchincloss, the current finance chief of BP's upstream division, on July 1.

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The new chief financial officer joins the boardroom just months after BP announced chief executive Bob Dudley would retire.

Mr Dudley is replaced by Mr Auchincloss's current head, Bernard Looney.

Outgoing finance chief, Mr Gilvary, played a key role in keeping the company in business after the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill that cost BP more than $65 billion in payouts.