The ground-breaking deal, involving the outsourcing of Aon's Client Operations division (which handles current and legacy insurance claims administration and processing, as well as accounting and settlement for clients within Aon's reinsurance division and its specialist and wholesale units), will transform and evolve the way Aon conducts its business in the London insurance market, allowing it to focus on its core areas of expertise and deliver differentiated levels of service to its clients. The initiative further demonstrates Aon's and Xchanging's status as leaders in London market reform.

Cambridge Solutions Ltd, a leading offshore process and technology skills company, is the incumbent off-shore service provider to Aon UK for claims processing. Cambridge continues to be the exclusive supplier and will expand the offshore services it provides to the new Xchanging/Aon partnership.

As part of the agreement more than 500 employees, based primarily in Romford, Leicester and Glasgow, will transfer from Aon to Xchanging. The partnership agreement is based on Xchanging's unique Enterprise Partnership model approach to the outsourcing, which is designed to handle complexity, minimise any disruption and to start-up with an 'as is' business as usual for Aon, while assuming the delivery risk and ensuring guaranteed savings to Aon. The partnership will also leverage the significant talents and capabilities of the transferring employees in order to create a platform to offer market-facing services to the London Market and the larger insurance industry.

Commenting on the appointment of Xchanging David Mead, Group Operations Director, Aon Limited, said, "Our strategy at Aon is the realignment of our business more closely around our client needs and core areas of expertise. By partnering with Xchanging we will improve the overall client experience; delivering greater levels of service and efficiency, while offering our transferring employees the opportunity to work with Xchanging, a world-class business processing services company.

"After an exhaustive selection process for the right partner we decided that Xchanging's business servicing approach offered us the best proposition in terms of scope, ability and expertise. Together we look forward to the Partnership contributing to a fully integrated and optimised London Market that will benefit all parties. This move by Aon further reinforces our credentials as a leader and innovator in the London Market."

Clive Buesnel, Executive Director at Xchanging, said of the deal, "Aon is a very important and exciting win for Xchanging. It's a great partnership and a landmark for us, Aon and the industry. It optimises the value chain and as a result we will be able to transform the way business processing is done in the London market, thereby strengthening London's competitiveness in an increasingly global insurance market. We are absolutely delighted to be providing processing services for yet another premier global brand, adding Aon to our portfolio of long-term partners who, like Aon, are all leaders in their industries."

Satyen Patel, Executive Vice Chairman, Cambridge Solutions Ltd. said, "We consider this innovative partnership to be a ground-breaking one. It leverages the complementary strengths of each partner effectively and provides continuity to an established offshore-outsourcing relationship that Cambridge Solutions Ltd. enjoys with Aon UK. More importantly, Cambridge now looks forward to working with Xchanging to service the broader London Insurance Market."