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Richard Harvey
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Millionaire quits city for Africa
From this ... Richard Harvey in his plush City office Pictures: REX
FULL NEWS INDEX ›› By IAN KING Business Editor January 11, 2007
COMMENT ON THIS STORY
ONE of the City’s most powerful figures is quitting his £1.9million-a-year job — to do charity work in Africa. Richard Harvey will step down in July as boss of Aviva, which owns Britain’s biggest insurer Norwich Union.
The dad of three, 56, is swapping his London office — surrounded by landmarks such as the Gherkin and Tower Bridge — to live amid mud huts and grinding poverty for a year.
Mr Harvey and his wife Kay, who have a £2million house in swanky Chelsea, West London, were inspired to work in Africa after their daughter Jenny took a gap year there.
He said: “Kay and I are going to have the gap year we never had.
“Jenny spent the best part of 12 months in Uganda, in the back of beyond, doing Aids education in a place called Mbale.
To this ... mud huts and grinding poverty in deepest Africa
“Having been there to visit her, I can say that the conditions were quite shocking — including mud huts without water and light. Now I’m not up to living like that — maybe I would have been 30 years ago — but I do have skills on the practical side.”
The committed Christian, who is rumoured to donate a large proportion of his salary to the church, is not sure yet what he will be doing in Africa. He said: “I’m a passable motor mechanic and my father was a woodwork and metalwork teacher, so I’ve had those skills all my life.”
Mr Harvey added: “I am looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and helping practically.
“This is a milestone — but it’s the right time for me to set out on a new adventure while I have the energy and desire to make a difference. I hope working in the City has not softened me up too much!”
Mr Harvey has previously taken part in charity bungee jumps and raised £50,000 for breast cancer research after Kay survived the disease.
He did a 37-mile sponsored walk across London — with a broken toe.
When his year in Africa is up, he won’t return to the City — he is retiring[1]
