Barclays announces closure of Coventry call centre with loss of 350 jobs

BARCLAYS has announced it is to close its Coventry call centre with the loss of 350 jobs.

The Barclays Contact Centre in Walsgrave deals with online banking and secure payments. It is scheduled to close next June.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce said it was shocked by the move and said the decision was a “bolt out of the blue”.

Louise Bennett, chamber chief executive, said: “Our sympathies are with the staff involved.

“With the recent upturn in the economy, now backed by firm statistical evidence, the service sector has been showing some encouraging signs, so I think this announcement will be a surprise to many.

“Barclays has said that some jobs will be retained at Westwood, and we hope they are a significant number and that the company can work hard in the next eight months to help those staff who are not being retained find suitable positions outside the firm or within the wider group.”

Some of the jobs at the calls centre may also be relocated to Sunderland and Liverpool but few, if any, existing staff are expected to move.

The bank, which has said the closure is part of a plan to make the company more efficient, said it would be helping to alternative employment options for all the affected staff elsewhere in the group.

However, it said it appreciated that some might wish to take the redundancy option and packages will be available.

Unions representing workers have urged the bank to reconsider its decision.
Dominic Hook, Unite national officer said: “News of the closure of this large Barclays processing centre will be deeply distressing for the workforce and the local community.

“Unite has real questions as to why such an important and productive centre in Coventry is being closed. This decision is damaging to Barclays, the staff and the local community in Coventry – where this centre is a large local employer.”

He said the union would press Barclays to find suitable local redeployment opportunities for the staff.

Unite representatives will be at the Coventry contact centre for the rest of the week to meet with staff and support them following the announcement.

The union said the majority of job losses would be among staff earning up to £17,500. A large number of part time staff at the centre will earn significantly less, it added.