Bank giant Lloyds to axe 570 jobs

The jobs will be lost from the group’s wholesale, retail, insurance and human resources divisions, affecting many parts of the country, including Halifax (85 jobs), Chester (140), Scotland (90), London (50) and Manchester (50).

The cuts take the total number of jobs lost since Lloyds merged with TSB two years ago to more than 26,700.

The Unite union said the latest news would be met with “despair” by the bank’s staff.

Lloyds also announced that a further 560 jobs would be outsourced to other firms, affecting cheque and credit processing, mailroom and payroll functions.

The firm said: “Lloyds Banking Group is committed to working through these changes with employees in a careful and sensitive way. All affected employees have been briefed by their line manager today.

“The group’s union partners, Accord, GMB, LTU and Unite, were consulted prior to this announcement and will continue to be consulted throughout the process.”

Unite national officer David Fleming said: “The news that Lloyds Banking Group is to cut a further 570 jobs and outsource almost 600 jobs will be met with despair by the bank’s staff.

“Unite strongly opposes any attempt by Lloyds to make compulsory redundancies.”