City MP Chris Matheson hopes to meet with both MBNA and its potential new owner Lloyds Banking Group to fight Chester’s corner.
Yesterday it was announced that Lloyds is buying the Chester-based credit card operation for £1.9bn subject to regulatory and competition approval, with the deal expected to be completed by the middle of next year.
Mr Matheson hopes Lloyds will remain loyal to the 1,700-strong workforce at the calls centre on Chester Business Park who have made MBNA the success it is today with 2.5m card holders and a loan book worth £7bn.
The MP, who studied economics and politics at the world famous London School of Economics, feels Lloyds is a better option than certain other names rumoured to be in the frame.
He continued: “We know Lloyds. They’ve got a good presence but they also want to make £100m savings. So the deal ends a level of uncertainty but we must also wait to see what their plans are.
“There won’t be any announcements about any changes immediately. They will need to look at the management, they will need to look a the existing business and see how they can merge their operations together.”
Mr Matheson said Lloyds already had an operation at Hoole Lane in Chester but it was ‘a different business’ to a credit card operation so there was no duplication locally.
Steering Lloyds away from making job cuts, he added: “You can only sell credit cards to people who have got money. We’ve been down that road before – giving credit to people who’ve not got it. In America it was the subprime mortgages and that led to the financial crash. These financial services companies rely on people being in good jobs so it would be daft to chop away their own potential customer base.”
Mr Matheson, who is already in contact with MBNA and Lloyds and hopes to meet with senior managers, is aware of the ‘massive contribution’ MBNA makes to the Chester community in terms of sponsoring teams and good causes like Chester FC, the marathon, Chester Music Festival and the new Storyhouse theatre. He sees no reason why this could not continue under Lloyds but it depends on their approach.
His Labour colleague and council leader Samantha Dixon remains upbeat.
She said: “ Cheshire West and Chester Council has a long-standing and extremely positive relationship with MBNA.
“Clearly there is some way to go before the sale is finalised, and we are committed to a proactive dialogue with MBNA to ensure that the best interests of their employees remains a priority.
“We will do everything possible to welcome the new owners and to provide any support they may require.”
Questions have been raised about MBNA’s previous commitment to invest £600,000 over three years in the £37m Storyhouse theatre, which opens in Chester city centre next May.
Cllr Dixon responded: “We have no reason to believe that the sale will have any impact on the sponsorship of Storyhouse.”
