British bank Lloyds said on Thursday it intended to cut nearly 600 jobs in another shake-up at the state-rescued group that has already axed thousands of positions over the past year.
“Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) is announcing today a number of changes within its wholesale and retail divisions,” it revealed in a statement.
“In addition, some insurance work currently administered by a third party supplier based in the UK, will be brought back into the group and processed at its strategic Insurance centres in Bristol and Edinburgh.”
LBG added: “There will be a net reduction of 585 permanent group jobs across the UK.”
The company will shut its Black Horse personal finance centres, with the loss of 455 positions, while another 130 jobs will be axed in the retail division.
Unite, Britain’s biggest trade union, slammed the fresh round of job cuts at the bank, which was bailed out by the state in the wake of the global financial crisis. The British taxpayer currently owns 43 percent of LBG.
“Unite is deeply disappointed that the Lloyds Banking Group has taken the decision to close all of the Black Horse centres,” senior Unite official Rob MacGregor said in a separate statement.
“At a time when many families are struggling to control their finances and businesses need access to credit, Unite is opposed to the shutting down of these valued local centres.”
LBG, created in January 2009 when Lloyds TSB bought rival lender HBOS in a state-brokered deal, has already axed about 15,500 jobs since the start of 2009, according to the union.
“Unite is warning the LBG not to repeat their approach in 2009, where staff faced death by a thousand cuts as weekly announcements of job losses were made,” MacGregor said.
“The strategy last year has had a devastating effect on staff and created job insecurity for most colleagues,” he added.
The union said it was seeking redeployment opportunities for those affected by the latest round of cuts.
