Lloyds Banking Group – which runs operations at Hoole Lane and MBNA in the city – has announced a restructure across the country that will impact on Chester employees.

Unite the Union says several departments will be hit by job losses but LBG claims about 435 new roles will be created with a net increase of 55 roles overall.

In its September newsletter, Unite says there will be a reduction of 74.5 full time equivalent roles across divisions that include MBNA in Chester with an overall decrease of 115.5 FTE roles in the group as a whole.

But the newsletter concedes 177 FTE roles will be created nationwide as part of the group transformation programme.

Lloyds Banking Group staff are based in Charterhall House and Tower House off Hoole Lane, Chester.

Paul O’Keefe, national committee representative and member of Unite’s team tackling job losses, said: “The ‘death by a thousand cuts’ of continual job losses continues to impact LBG colleagues the length and breadth of the United Kingdom, clearly impacting the morale and productivity of the colleagues who remain with LBG whilst unfairly ridding hard working, loyal colleagues of their jobs.

“Unite fail to see why these continual job losses have to continue in earnest whilst the bank’s stated aim of ‘building new skills’ amongst its existing colleagues remain largely unfulfilled.

“To this effect, Unite calls upon LBG to go back to the drawing board in respect of its job cutting agenda and apply its re-skilling agenda to the creation of new opportunities and roles for its existing staff.”

Unite says all those affected must be ‘given the clear option to remain working for LBG – where they choose to do so’.

The union says LBG recently announced a 23% increase in half year profits, representing a pre-tax profit of £3.1bn for the first half of 2018. The union says it is unacceptable to make ‘hundreds’ of workers redundant on a regular basis while the bank continues to see strong growth.

Flags outside MBNA's Chester Business Park home including a new flag featuring the new owners, Lloyds Banking Group and their black horse logo.

LBG bought Chester-based MBNA credit card business in June 2017 when the company talked about ‘significant opportunity for cost synergies’.

The Unite newsletter states: “Unite has made its position clear that it will not sit back if MBNA staff are adversely impacted in the name of ‘synergies’, cost cutting or any other moniker the bank seeks to attach to any attempt to cut jobs or terms and conditions.

“During consultations and based on previous member feedback, it has become apparent that MBNA employ a large number of contractors, agency staff and temporary workers within its operation at Cawley House, Chester. Unite believes that no permanent colleague should be subject to compulsory redundancy if a suitable role is available elsewhere and the union will continue to request specific information on the use of temporary/contract workers to protect our members’ jobs.”

Lloyds Banking Group says the announcement will result in a net increase in 55 roles across the group as part of a £3bn investment.

A bank spokesperson said: “Lloyds Banking Group has today announced the creation of a number of new roles within engineering and design, as it develops colleagues’ skills so that the group is able to continue to offer more leading-edge products and services that meet the needs of our customers today and in the future.

“The majority of the circa 435 new roles (net increase of circa 55) will be created in the group transformation division. These new roles form part of the £3bn commitment the group has made over the course of its next strategic plan to invest heavily in technology and people.

“Whilst today’s announcements will result in an overall net increase in the number of roles within our organisation, as it reskills colleagues to meet customers’ rapidly changing requirements, it does involve making difficult decisions. The group’s policy is always to use natural turnover and to redeploy people in the first instance.

“Since 2011, over 90 per cent of people leaving the group has been through a combination of natural attrition, redeployment and voluntary redundancy.”