500 NW jobs cut at HBOS

MORE than 500 finance jobs have been axed across the region, with the closure of an HBOS motor finance division.

Halifax Bank of Scotland, now part of the Lloyds Banking Group, has said it will cut 200 jobs at its Speke site on the Estuary Commerce Park and another 340 in Chester.

Around 500 staff are currently employed at the Speke site, while the bank has several hundred staff at a number of locations in Chester.

Around 240 people in Speke have already been moved to cover personal finance instead, but the company said 200 jobs would still have to go this year. The Chester cuts will be made next year.

The job cuts are part of wider cuts that will see 910 full time jobs, and a further 75 part time jobs, go across the group over the next two years.

The company said it would try to avoid compulsory redundancies and use natural wastage and redeployment to meet the job cut targets. “Compulsory redundancies will be a last resort,” said the statement.

Black Horse will become the group’s sole brand for motor finance.

A statement said: “Last year, Bank of Scotland carried out a detailed review of its asset and motor finance operations and concluded that the majority of them were no longer financially viable or core to the business.

“It therefore decided to close its point-of-sale dealer finance, vendor and intermediary and specialist asset finance operations to new business.”

Staff at both centres were told the news in briefings late this morning.

Rob MacGregor, Unite national officer, said: “For some months now the employees of the company have had to live with almost daily speculation about the security of their jobs and the long-term plans for the company. Today the workforce must face the horrendous reality that integration will mean that some will lose their jobs.

He added: “The company must be creative in finding means of achieving cost savings, with re-deployment and re-training measures as central in its strategy to bring HBoS and Lloyds TSB staff together. The union will oppose any compulsory job losses at the company.”