IT is a name that has gone hand-in-hand with Southampton for decades.

Skandia has become one of the south’s biggest businesses, employing thousands of people at its landmark headquarters in the heart of the city centre since it opened its doors in 1991.

Now the pensions and investments firm is set to shed its historic name when it is officially rebranded next week.

The Skandia title will disappear from Southampton on Monday, with all of the company’s UK operations set to adopt the name of their owners, Old Mutual Wealth.

To mark the milestone, staff at Skandia House – which will be renamed Old Mutual House – have broken a Guinness World Record by creating the largest ever coin mosaic.

The artwork has taken pride of place on the third floor of the towering office block in Portland Terrace, opposite the Civic Centre.

It measures a staggering 80 sq m, smashing the 73.5 sq m record set by a leisure park in Canada just weeks ago.

The colourful design, created by mosaic technician Kurt Buckley and artist Will Rosie, proudly carries the firm’s new name and the title of world’s largest coin mosaic.

Daily Echo:

Artist Will Rosie putting the record-breaking coin mosaic together

Staff collected £18,000 in change to help create the mosaic, which will be distributed to Skandia’s five charity partners once the artwork is removed from the site, with parent company Old Mutual Wealth pledging to match that amount.

Paul Feeney, chief executive of Old Mutual Wealth, said: “We are incredibly proud of our Skandia heritage in Southampton and in fact we want to reignite the Skandia passion for innovation and high quality support for financial advisers and customers within Old Mutual Wealth.”

Skandia’s 2,000 employees are split across two Southampton offices in Portland Terrace and Commercial Road, with that building also set to be given the new title of Old Mutual Point.