Recently announced that it would close all Cheltenham & Gloucester branches, and cut 2,100 jobs over the next three years
Lloyds Banking Group, the UK-based mortgage lender, is planning to cut as many as 200 jobs in its general insurance arm in the UK – reported Bloomberg. The job cuts in Newport, Gwent and West Yorkshire by the end of January 2010, are expected to bring the total number to 8,000.
Lloyds, 43% owned by the UK government, is eliminating employees following its acquisition of HBOS. HBOS made a loss of approximately GBP11 billion in 2008. As a result, Lloyds plans to save more than GBP1.5 billion by 2011, reported the news agency.
In a statement, Philip Loney, managing director of general insurance at Lloyds, commented: We are committed to working through these changes with our colleagues carefully and sensitively and will seek to use natural turnover and redeployment wherever possible.
Ged Nichols, general secretary of Accord Trade Union, said: Compulsory redundancies are not inevitable. The bank should work with Accord and other unions to find redeployment opportunities elsewhere, reported the news agency.