Lloyds to cut 5000 jobs as HBOS integration bites

Some of the losses will relate to temporary staff and contractors, but 2600 of the jobs to be axed will be permanent roles. 

The banks said approximately 950 roles will be cut in mortgage operations, with the loss of 270 permanent jobs.

The bulk of the redundancies will come in its group operations division, which includes collections and payment services, where 2820 roles will be lost. Within its insurance division, 1190 will be made redundant.

Mark Fisher, group director at LBG, said: “Today marks another important step in bringing our businesses together. We will continue to work closely with our colleagues affected by today’s announcement to help them through these changes over the coming year.”

Ged Nichols, general secretary at Accord, the union which represents former HBOS employees who work in LBG, described the job cuts as terrible news for employees.

He said: “We always recognised that some job losses were inevitable as Lloyds TSB integrated HBOS operations, but the scale of changes announced today will leave many staff in shock.”

Jonathan Burridge, managing director of Quantum Money, said it was not surprised by the job cuts, as LBG was under strong pressure to make a profit.

He added: “It is regrettable for those who will lose jobs, but LBG is now a massive organisation with a large number of overlapping roles. It has made a loss for this year so it is looking at costs to see whether these roles can be cut.”