London, Cardiff, Kingswood and Hove office to be cut
Legal & General is to shed 300 full-time and 260 contractor posts at its Kingswood, Hove, London and Cardiff sites, the company has confirmed as it announce promising Q1 figures.
Financial highlights (2008 Q1 in brackets)
- Worldwide new business £382m (£372m)
- UK Risk: new business £127m (£141m)
- UK Savings: new business £206m (£194m
- Investment management: gross new funds £7.5bn (£6.1bn)
- International: new business £49m (£37m
Tim Breedon, group chief executive, said: “Our sales figures for Q1 demonstrate that Legal & General has made a good start to the year, with worldwide Risk and Savings sales growth of 3%, and another strong performance from Investment management. This reflects the diversity of our product and distribution model, and our financial strength.
“2009 will not be an easy year for the industry - growth opportunities will be limited. However we entered these market conditions with a consistent, stable and diversified business model and remain in a good position to make the most of the opportunities that arise.'
Job cuts comment
Rob MacGregor, national officer with the trade union Unite, said: “The decision by Legal & General to make up to 560 workers redundant is extremely disturbing in any circumstance; this distress will be compounded within the current economic climate.
“Unite has challenged Legal & General on the impact that this significant staff reduction will have on their its plans for recovery following the current downturn. The union is calling on the financial services sector to ensure that it does not simply take short-term decisions to cut staff, without consideration for future levels of service and their ability to recover from the recession.
"The people impacted by today's news work in Legal & General's processing centres across the country, many of them carrying out customer facing telephone based work. Unite will be opposing any suggestion of compulsory job losses and urging the company to explore alternatives. Unite will be meeting with impacted staff over the coming days and weeks.”
