The caring cuddle is to go.

At the end of next week the logo for one of Colchester's biggest employers, Royal London will be changed to reflect the company's new image.

The cuddle has been the same for 19 years and, when it was originally introduced in 1978, it gradually replaced the crest on all Royal London literature.

In 1981 the couple in the cuddle had a makeover to make them look less 1970s. But the company says that while people recognised the logo they could not say whose it was.

Stephen Humphreys, head of corporate communications, said: "In the most recent research, Royal London scored a very high figure for recognition - 64 per cent - but only eight per cent, a very low figure, for attribution."

He said the prime reason for changing the logo was because the company was changing.

"We are having to change how we operate and how we behave, and that means we must also change how we present ourselves," he said.

Three ideas were chosen for research among customers and employees at Colchester and in area offices.

Eventually, the new logo was born. It keeps the hand together with the colour blue, but a light purple has been added to give warmth.

The word insurance has been dropped and the words Royal London brought closer into the logo itself while the family has been replaced with an abstract symbol based on the image of the bud of a fern unfolding to represent growth.

The new insignia, made by Impact Signs of London Road, Lexden, will be put on the building next weekend.

(Left to right) The changing face of Royal London

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.