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Lloyds Banking Group is cutting hundreds of jobs and closing two offices as the high-street bank enters the final stretch of a £4bn growth and digitisation plan.
In a series of announcements to staff on Wednesday, the UK’s largest retail lender said it planned to review more than 1,500 jobs, leading to a net reduction of about 500 roles.
The bank, which has more than 60,000 employees, will cut jobs in areas ranging from customer service to sustainability, according to a statement by trade union Accord that confirmed an earlier Financial Times report.
The bulk of the lay-offs will target middle manager “customer relationship” employees, affecting staff working in operations, “digital experience” and marketing. The bank also plans to cut a handful of roles in its sustainability function and commercial bank.
As part of the restructuring, Lloyds will also create 151 new jobs.
The move comes as the largest UK high street bank is entering the final two years of a five-year £4bn investment plan, led by chief executive Charlie Nunn, aimed at increasing revenue that does not rely on interest rates, and digitising its operations to cut costs and improve returns.
It also comes after the bank last year replaced recognition of the trade union membership of its highest-paid employees with “people forums” to discuss issues ranging from job cuts and pay to health and safety.
Planned reductions also include 193 lay-offs in England and Wales as part of its move towards branch sharing for Lloyds and Halifax customers, with one person familiar with the discussions adding that this would affect two regional directors and 40 senior managers.
Lloyds said: “To achieve the ambitious strategy we launched in February 2022 and deliver a better service to our customers, we are transforming our business.”
It added that change meant 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”.
The bank has also announced plans to shut its Liverpool and Dunfermline offices, relocating staff to other offices in Chester and Edinburgh and allowing the majority of them to continue to work from home.
“The proposed closure of the large Lloyds Banking Group centre in Liverpool Speke is a huge mistake,” said Dominic Hook, Unite national officer. “The impact on the hundreds of staff and the region will be significant and is wholly unnecessary.”
Lloyds’ Liverpool office largely deals with fraud and customer services. A person familiar with the company said the majority of its Liverpool office already worked from home.
Lloyds has already reviewed 2,500 jobs, and in 2023 embarked on a round of job cuts as part of its strategic overhaul launched in 2022.
https://www.ft.com/content/a43b7019-f59a-4ea2-acd7-331d826369c7
