More face axe as Cattles to shut 18 Welcome branches

SUB-PRIME lender Cattles warned that 155 more staff faced the axe yesterday as part of an ongoing drive to reduce the size of its loan book.

The Batley-based group plans to close a further 18 branches at its core Welcome Finance business, including two in Hull and one in Sheffield.

Each branch employs up to 10 people.

The company sent out letters to staff and said it will now enter a consultation process with those affected.

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Cattles lent money to people with poor credit ratings, but last year uncovered a huge accounting failure which hid a mountain of bad debts.

In a statement, it said: "As a result of a review into the costs associated with collecting loans, Cattles proposes the closure of 18 branches nationwide and a contraction in the current operations management and their support staff in line with the smaller number of branches."

The latest threatened cuts take the total job losses by Cattles to more than 2,450 since uncertainty over funding forced it to start axing jobs 16 months ago.

The firm, which has also sold businesses and sacked senior executives, expects the wind-down of its 1.9bn loan book to take two to three years during which time more cuts are inevitable. The news follows February's announcement that 450 staff faced the axe under plans to close about 70 branches and collection units.

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Last September it said it would close 30 Welcome branches and axe 510 staff.

In March, the board announced planned changes at its Shopacheck business, which helps people with poor credit ratings to get loans. It said 290 were at risk of redundancy but it expected that only 75 would go as people were offered new roles.

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