Barbon to close Croydon head office in January

Insurance broker Barbon will close its head office in Croydon by the end of January next year.

The decision was prompted by the sale of its property and commercial division to fellow broker Arthur J Gallagher back in May, which left Barbon to concentrate on its lettings arm.

It is unclear how many staff the move will affect, but the teams to be relocated include legal and claims, HR and finance. These teams will support the other lettings companies, Rentshield and Letsure, which are based in Devon and Glasgow.

Barbon’s acting chief executive Ian Sutherland said: “Following the sale of the property and commercial division, the lettings business has a far simpler structure, and as such it is no longer appropriate for Barbon to have a separate head office.

“Therefore all functions and some roles within the Croydon office are in the process of being relocated to the company’s brand new, purpose-built premises in Lincoln.

“Although a difficult decision, it was made as part of the overall restructure and will be complete by the end of January 2014.

“This is a necessary step for the business as it right-sizes following the sale of [the property and commercial division] and while change can be difficult, the benefits to the business with management being on site is already paying dividends.”