Zurich to cut 120 jobs and close five branches

28 January 2011 1:21 pm | By Natalie Holt

Zurich UK Life is in talks with staff about cutting 120 jobs from its sales and marketing division and closing five branches.

Staff at the insurer were notified about the proposed job cuts yesterday and are now in a 30-day consultation period.

The prospective job losses account for 8 per cent of the total Zurich UK workforce.

Around 60 roles are to go from its sales or “distribution” division, with a further 60 to be cut from its marketing or “proposition” arm.

If the job cuts go ahead, the move will be effective from April 1.

Zurich is also proposing to reduce its branch network from 14 offices to nine, with the closure of its offices in Edinburgh, Cambridge, Nottingham, and Reigate. The closure of one of its two London offices is also being consulted upon.

Despite the branch closures, a new branch location is being proposed for Peterborough to serve advisers in East Anglia and Nottingham.

In future Zurich proposes to operate from Glasgow, the North East, Manchester, Birmingham, London, Bristol, and a base in southern England, likely to be Southampton.

A spokeswoman for Zurich says no firm decisions have been made on the total level of job cuts or the proposed branch closures.

She says: “Zurich UK Life can confirm that it is proposing to make some organisational changes to its life business which will result in a restructuring of its distribution and proposition teams. By introducing these changes we believe we will deliver greater operational efficiencies and effectiveness for the life business whilst ensuring that we remain competitive in a challenging market.
  
“We believe this is the right thing to do as it will also help us ensure we are well placed to meet the evolving needs of our customers and distributors in the future”.

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