Finance staff in Yorkshire spared as axe falls at RBS

RBS said it was axing 14 of the 27 offices in its Churchill and Direct Line business under existing plans to cut 2,000 jobs from the insurance division.

Two offices will be shut in Glasgow, affecting more than 640 staff; other locations where offices will shut include Peterborough, Cardiff and Bristol.

But an RBS spokesman said it would be "business as usual" for its 3,600 staff in Yorkshire. Its three offices in Leeds and one in Doncaster are core to the business and "might even see their remit expand", he added, although it was too early to know if any jobs would be created.

It was a different story in Scotland yesterday as politicians and unions reacted furiously.

Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney said the decision was "hugely disappointing" and "a significant setback for Glasgow's financial sector".

Rob MacGregor, of trade union Unite, said: "RBS staff are continuing to pay the price for the bank's failure with their jobs.

"They are trying to do the best job they can during a hugely stressful period of uncertainty.

"Unite is calling on RBS to come clean with staff and clarify the impact of the restructuring and end the uncertainty."

The part-nationalised bank delivered the blow to staff yesterday afternoon as part of a previously-announced move to shed jobs at the insurance division, which the European Commission ordered it to sell by 2013.

RBS said the offices will be shut over the next three years, although some are closing as soon as the fourth quarter of this year. The company said it hopes to redeploy staff where possible, with some transferred to other offices.

More than 400 job losses are expected from the closure of the bank's offices in Glasgow, although around 200 staff are likely to be redeployed. About 660 staff will be hit by the Peterborough closure and another 480 in Bristol.

RBS – 83 per cent owned by the taxpayer – said in May that 2,000 jobs would go at its insurance arm, which includes the Direct Line, Green Flag, Churchill and Privilege businesses and employs 16,000 people.