More job cuts at Lloyds TSB

Despite becoming what was described as a super-bank following its takeover of troubles banking group HBOS, Lloyds TSB has announced a fresh round of job cuts earlier this month, with the announcement that it would be closing all of its Cheltenham & Gloucester branches.

The closure of these branches will mean that around sixteen hundred jobs will be lost. This includes nearly nine hundred and thirty jobs from the closure of the branches, and hundreds of other jobs in a number of other areas.

Since mid-April the banking giant has already announced the loss of around three thousand jobs, causing a lot of unrest and anger amongst unions. Lloyds has been accused of failing to be honest about the level of restructuring, and the latest announcement and wave of job cuts will simply add to the unrest and morale of the staff there.

It is thought that the level of the jobs cuts has been exacerbated as a result of the true extent of the financial woes of HBOS only being realised after its merger with Lloyds TSB.

One official from Lloyds stated: ‘Cheltenham & Gloucester is a very strong brand. The strategic focus for C&G from now on will be to further strengthen its intermediary and direct savings businesses. Another major priority for us is to ensure that we manage the closure of the C&G branch network so that it causes as little disruption as possible to our customers. We have a number of measures in place to achieve this.’

An official from the union, Unite, said that it was disgraceful that staff members had heard about the closure of C&G branches in the media, stating: ‘Lloyds Banking Group must take full responsibility for the devastation caused to staff who have this morning woken up to news that they could lose their jobs.’

Tags: lloyds tsb, unrest, job cuts, lloyds, Financial services, unemployment, branch