100 jobs threatened at troubled credit card insurer CPP

The firm, which markets “life assistance” products such as credit card protection, told workers this morning that it needed to reduce staffing by about ten per cent.

It said it may have to resort to making compulsory redundancies if not enough volunteers come forward.

CPP employs about 1,000 people from bases in Holgate Park, York, and in Chesterfield

It said in a statement: “As part of its efforts to move towards a more customer-focused business structure, and following the agreement in principle with the FSA, CPP has today announced a voluntary redundancy programme in its UK business.

“CPP is committed to keeping job losses at a minimum and the programme is expected to affect less that 10 per cent of its UK workforce. These actions do not impact CPP’s ability to deliver high standards of service for its customers and no customer-facing roles are affected.”

A message on the firm’s website offered a telephone helpline for customers “concerned about any of the media coverage following the company announcement”.

Last month CPP business suspended the trading of its shares on the London Stock Exchange, after the Financial Services Authority extended its investigation into issues surrounding the sale of the group’s card protection and identity protection products in the UK.

The firm sells protection for credit cards, wallets and mobile phones to customers of banks and building societies, including RBS and Nationwide. Barclaycard, one of its biggest customers, recently decided not to renew its contract.