Bank announces 140 job losses in Chester

Mar 21 2011 by David Holmes, Chester Chronicle

LLOYDS Bank has announced 140 job losses in Chester.

The redundancies are among 570 nationally in retail, wholesale, insurance, group operations and human resources.

Job losses in Chester relate to retail and wholesale. City-based staff claim other roles are being outsourced, including the internal mail operation.

A spokesperson said: “Lloyds Banking Group is committed to working through these changes with employees in a careful and sensitive way.

“All affected employees have been briefed by their line manager today. The group’s union partners, Accord, GMB, LTU and Unite were consulted prior to this announcement and will continue to be consulted throughout the process.

“The group’s policy is always to use natural turnover and to redeploy people wherever possible to retain their expertise and knowledge within the group. Where it is necessary for employees to leave the company, it will look to achieve this by offering voluntary severance. Compulsory redundancies will always be a last resort.”

David Fleming, Unite national officer, said: “The news that Lloyds Banking Group is to cut a further 570 jobs and outsource another 600 jobs will be met with despair by the bank’s staff.

“Just two weeks ago this taxpayer supported organisation announced profits of £2.2 billion, Yet this decision represents a total failure by Lloyds to recognise that this turn around is the outcome of the work of their staff.

“Unite strongly opposes any attempt by Lloyds to make compulsory redundancies and is demanding that the organisation ends this practice of drip feeding staff job loss announcements, while at the same time increasing the number of agency staff being taken on.”