Fresh jobs blow for city as Lloyds to axe hundreds

EDINBURGH was dealt a fresh jobs blow today with the news that banking giant Lloyds was cutting hundreds more posts.

The announcement that another 625 posts were to go, mainly in Edinburgh and London, was met with fury among union officials.

Unite said the decision by Lloyds Banking Group suggested the company had embarked on a strategy of "death by a thousand cuts".

National officer Rob MacGregor said the union was furious, adding: "The union will not accept a situation where Lloyds makes weekly announcements of hundreds of job losses.

"Staff must be told the company's plans for the future of the organisation and not be left with the uncertainty that they could be the next to lose their jobs.

"The hardworking and dedicated workers across the group have coped with the uncertainty about their futures for far too long.

"It is now time for their employer to come clean with their plans and not leave staff in this state of uncertainty any longer. Unite is demanding that the company meet with the union to have a full discussion on the future of the workforce.

"Unite remains opposed to compulsory job losses. Lloyds must now work with the union to ensure that members at risk of redundancy who wish to remain in the employment of the group are given the opportunity to do so."

Unite said 20,000 finance jobs have been lost in the first four months of the year, including 2,500 at Lloyds.

Lloyds said it was making a number of changes to its wholesale banking division, which provides banking and financial services to corporate customers across the UK.

The group's commercial banking operations will be brought into one business, while a single acquisition finance business will be created under the existing Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets brand.

The changes will result in the loss of 625 full-time jobs, although Lloyds said that more than 300 new jobs had been identified within wholesale.

The company said it preferred to use natural turnover and redeployment wherever possible, with compulsory redundancies a last resort.

Philip Grant, chief operating officer within Lloyds Banking Group's Wholesale Division, said: "Our objective is to create one industry-leading wholesale bank for the group. The changes we are making will help us ensure we have the right organisation to meet the needs of the market.

"At the same time, we are committed to working through these changes with our colleagues carefully and sensitively. We will seek to make these changes by using natural turnover and redeployment wherever possible."

Lloyds said a range of measures had been put in place to support employees through this "uncertain time".