Alliance & Leicester to shed 200 jobs

Oct 14 2009 by Iain Laing, The Journal

FINANCE giant Alliance & Leicester is to close a site and switch work elsewhere, with the loss of more than 200 jobs.

The firm, owned by Spanish company Santander, said its Heritage House site in Leicester will shut, with most of its 250-strong workforce moving to another office in Narborough, Leicestershire.

Some work, including personal loan telephone distribution functions, will move to other Santander sites in the UK, mainly Sheffield.

The firm’s mortgage servicing function currently based at Narborough is moving to another Santander company based in Teesside, affecting around 100 jobs, it was also announced.

“This decision may lead to a number of redundancies where redeployment is not found, although it is hoped many of these will be voluntary,” said the company in a statement.

An Alliance & Leicester spokesman said: “There is never a good time to announce changes such as this and we are acutely aware of the uncertainty staff are facing.

“We would thank them for their continued professionalism and co-operation.”

Communication Workers Union national officer Nigel Cotgrove said: “While the amalgamation of the two Leicester sites is not unexpected, the job cuts are another bitter blow to our hard-working members.