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Lloyds Bank has put hundreds of jobs at risk and unveiled plans to close two offices as Britain’s biggest lender ramps up a cost-cutting drive.
The bank plans to slim down its back-office functions in a move that will impact about 1,600 roles across its customer relationship teams.
Hundreds of roles will be axed across planning, organisation and product development while dozens of new ones will also be created.
The precise number of job losses are not yet known but hundreds of jobs are understood to be at risk. The Financial Times reported that 500 jobs would go.
Separately, the bank also announced plans to close an office in Speke, Liverpool as well as another site in Dunfermline, Scotland, as more staff work from home.
Many staff in the Speke office will be transferred to an office in Chester 23 miles away. The bank said 80pc of staff were already working remotely, meaning only around 100 employees will be forced to make the journey.
Dunfermline staff will also be transferred to an office in central Edinburgh 20 miles away.
The shake-up at Lloyds comes as Charlie Nunn, chief executive, seeks to accelerate a three-year turnaround plan, which concludes this year.
With many staff working from home, Lloyds – like many banks – is seeking ways to cut back on its property estate to save money.
The increasing use of technology has also made back office functions less reliant on staff, opening the door for Lloyds to cut employee numbers.
However, unions said closing the offices was a “huge mistake” and warned that some of the Speke staff may face an extra hour of commuting time to reach Chester.
Dominic Hook, Unite national officer, said: “The impact on the hundreds of staff and the region will be significant and is wholly unnecessary.
“The impact of the longer commute to Chester for colleagues is huge. While some workers in Speke do currently work from home, a substantial number still do need to travel into the centre for work.
“The refusal of Lloyds to open an alternative Liverpool office is completely unjustified and damaging. Poor communication of the site closure has added insult to injury, with management telling staff of the decision by email.”
The Speke site is a call centre dealing with fraud and customer services. It is set to close next summer.
A Lloyds spokesman said: “Making changes means not only creating new roles and upskilling colleagues in some parts of the business but also having to say goodbye to talented people who have been a part of the Group’s success in the past.
“Where that is unfortunately the case, we will do everything we can to support them with the changes recently announced.”