Lloyds Banking Group axes Chester jobs and plans to up sticks to London in radical company shake-up

Jun 11 2009 by Laurie Stocks-Moore, Chester Chronicle

Lloyds Banking Group axes Chester jobs and plans to up sticks to London in radical company shake-up

LLOYDS bank will shed 265 jobs at its Chester office before it moves its personal loans business to London.

The group says 110 jobs will go this year as it winds down a joint venture it runs with the AA.

Director of loans Russell Galley broke the news to staff in Premier House, Hoole Lane on Tuesday.

He said: “We have a venture with the AA. We have diverging views of where we want to take that business so we have taken the decision to close that from the end of September.

“That will have an impact on 110 full time employees in Premier House.”

Lloyds Banking Group, which employs some 3,000 people in Chester since merging with HBOS, will make further cutbacks when its personal loans business moves south.

Mr Galley added: “By the end of 2011, there will be 155 fewer jobs in the loans business.

“We will have a basic loans product team based in London by the end of 2011 but larger support teams will continue in Chester with in excess of 700 people.”

Mr Galley insists some of the jobs can be saved by redeployment and relocation and that, wherever possible, redundancies will be volutary.

The news came on the same day it was announced that eight members of staff at Cheltenham & Gloucester on Eastgate Street would also go in November.

As the parent company of Cheltenham & Gloucester, Lloyds is closing every high street branch. Its customers will in future manage their accounts at Lloyds TSB branches, over the phone and by post.

The head offices of the bank’s retail business will also be concentrated in three main hubs, all outside Chester, with 168 jobs going nationwide.

“I know that these changes will be unsettling for those involved but please be assured that the decisions behind them have not been taken lightly,” said Helen Weir, group executive director of retail.

General secretary of the Accord Union, Ged Nichols, who represent some of the staff in personal loans and retail, promised support for staff affected.

He added: “No matter how well the processes are managed, members’ personal circumstances, preferences and aspirations may not match what the bank has in mind.

“We are always unhappy at any planned reduction in the roles and opportunities available – particularly in the current economic environment.”