Aviva shareholder meeting in York targeted by protesters

Campaign group Boycott Bloody Insurance said it was behind the stunt

Protestors targeted insurance giant Aviva’s annual general meeting in York today.

Campaign group Boycott Bloody Insurance claims the FTSE100 firm underwrites or invests in companies that profit from surveillance, immigration detention, fossil fuels and weapons. The group claimed to be behind 12 people with shares in Aviva.

A video shared to social media shows people lying and kneeling on the floor of Avia’s Wellington Row offices in the city, before being led away. Boycott Bloody Insurance’s website contains materials that take aim at insurers who they say protect “deadly industries driving climate chaos, the genocide in Gaza and border violence”.

Andrew Taylor, a campaigner at Boycott Bloody Insurance said: “Aviva likes to present itself as an ethical business, but when you look at the companies it supports, that turns out to be a sham.”

Aviva’s AGM comes after it published 2025 results showing operating profits had climbed 25% to more than £2.2bn. That included a £174m contribution from its takeover of Direct Line.

Aviva declined to comment on Wednesday’s events.

The disruption in York comes only a week after NatWest was forced to pause its AGM amid heckling during its chairman’s opening speech. Protesters were singing and making statements about NatWest’s climate policies, while shareholder activists called on the banking group to address claims it had “reduced the ambition of its fossil fuel policy and climate targets”.

Rick Haythornthwaite, NatWest’s chairman, defended its policies and said the financing of oil and gas comprises 0.6% of the group’s total lending. Meanwhile, Barclays is expected to be targeted at its AGM in London on Thursday, with activist groups including the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Campaign Against Arms Trade organising a protest outside the meeting.