Lloyds Axing 1400 Jobs-- merged thread

[SarahBell]

So loads of banking jobs going - don't forget santander will be culling a huge number of branches too when they name them all the same...

unemployment, empty high streets.

Ah well Gordon says everything is ok.

[Mr Prudence]

I understood it, alright. Doesn't make it less crooked, though. I want them to suffer because the charges are unlawful and they are usurous scum, like all bank employees everywhere. And he is a self-righteous tosspot.

I very much doubt that the individuals making those decisions (re overdraft charges) will be affected, it will be the foot soldiers.

[xux42]

I understood it, alright. Doesn't make it less crooked, though. I want them to suffer because the charges are unlawful and they are usurous scum, like all bank employees everywhere. And he is a self-righteous tosspot.

Puff! - PrivateerMk2 ignored & gone.

I used to get annoyed at off topic rows & abuse until I realised they are a quick and handy way to build up your list of ignored users and make threads more concise & useful. Spread the word folks.

[Minos]

Puff! - PrivateerMk2 ignored & gone.

I used to get annoyed at off topic rows & abuse until I realised they are a quick and handy way to build up your list of ignored users and make threads more concise & useful. Spread the word folks.

Tricky strategy. Eventually you'll only have yourself to talk to.

[xux42]

Tricky strategy. Eventually you'll only have yourself to talk to.

Not at all I'd never ignore you M, or any other 'Vet'.

Just trying to weed out the hobby horse riders.

I see no one is disagreeing with my contention that ex-C&G staffers will be stuffed rather than ex-Lloyds.

One surprise is that its taken so long. When Sun Alliance took over the Phoenix in the 80s they had axed 90% of the Phoenix staff within 12months. As it happens SA gave me a good start in my career but they were/are vicious swine during acquisitions.

[OnlyMe]

The bubble level of lenders are not needed any more when you have bankrupted the country and destroyed the productive part of he economy.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/persona...hin-a-year.html

'Five building societies to fail within a year'

A leading building society commentator reckons that at least five mutuals will fail within 12 months and 15 will be forced to merge.

[Jie Bie]

Lloyds Banking Group is cutting about 1,660 jobs after deciding to close all Cheltenham & Gloucester branches and overhauling its loan and mortgage arms.

C&G will disappear from the High Street from November, but the brand will be kept for mortgages and savings,

Lloyds said C&G customers would be able to use Lloyds TSB branches. It added that the job losses were "regrettable".

Almost 3,000 jobs have already been cut since Lloyds' merger with Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS).

Bad debts at HBOS mean the group faces an annual loss.

Important brand

The closure of all C&G branches will see 833 full-time jobs go.

Lloyds said it was closing the Chester office of the personal loans business, and moving operations to London, with 265 full-time jobs lost.

Meanwhile trimming the number of its Black Horse personal finance centres and moving its car financing arm, CarSelect, from Cardiff to Birmingham will result in the loss of 140 jobs by October.

And 159 jobs will be cut among those selling its mortgages - with home loans no longer available from Bank of Scotland and Intelligent Finance from 1 July.

BBC business editor Robert Peston said that the announcement was "profoundly bad news" for many employees of Lloyds, saying that the group's financial predicament meant further job cuts were possible.

Union officials have complained about "death by a thousand cuts", urging the bank to "come clean" about the scale of the restructuring programme.

Mortgage impact

A Lloyds spokesman said that C&G was an important brand to the group and "would continue to be so".

The closure of C&G branches follows an announcement from Santander last week, that it is to rebrand Abbey, Bradford & Bingley and Alliance & Leicester.

"It's not an insignificant change for the UK High Street. Some of the most famous names in retail banking are disappearing" said our business editor.

Those with a C&G mortgage will continue to have their home loan under that brand - with new customers still being taken on via mortgage brokers.

C&G has been a significant player in the UK mortgage market, offering some of the lowest standard variable rates, said BBC personal finance reporter Kevin Peachey.

The most recent data available showed that Lloyds - through C&G - had an 8.4% share of the UK mortgage market by the end of 2007.

Andrew Montlake, of independent mortgage broker Coreco, said the loss of the brand on the High Street was "an inevitable consequence of brutal market conditions".

"For borrowers, this is a real blow to competition and consumer choice," he added.

Another brown shoot...

[threetimesdead]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8090683.stm

"Lloyds closing all C&G branches

Lloyds say C&G will remain an important brand

Lloyds Banking Group is cutting about 1,660 jobs after deciding to close all Cheltenham & Gloucester branches and overhauling its loan and mortgage arms.

C&G will disappear from the High Street from November, but the brand will be kept for mortgages and savings,

Lloyds said C&G customers would be able to use Lloyds TSB branches. It added that the job losses were "regrettable".

Almost 3,000 jobs have already been cut since Lloyds' merger with Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS).

Bad debts at HBOS mean the group faces an annual loss.

Important brand

The closure of all C&G branches will see 833 full-time jobs go.

Lloyds said it was closing the Chester office of the personal loans business, and moving operations to London, with 265 full-time jobs lost.

Meanwhile trimming the number of its Black Horse personal finance centres and moving its car financing arm, CarSelect, from Cardiff to Birmingham will result in the loss of 140 jobs by October.

Derek Simpson says C&G's decision is 'disgraceful'

And 159 jobs will be cut among those selling its mortgages - with home loans no longer available from Bank of Scotland and Intelligent Finance from 1 July.

BBC business editor Robert Peston said that the announcement was "profoundly bad news" for many employees of Lloyds, saying that the group's financial predicament meant further job cuts were possible.

It's not an insignificant change for the UK High Street. Some of the most famous names in retail banking are disappearing

Robert Peston, BBC business editor

Union officials have complained about "death by a thousand cuts", urging the bank to "come clean" about the scale of the restructuring programme.

Mortgage impact

A Lloyds spokesman said that C&G was an important brand to the group and "would continue to be so".

The closure of C&G branches follows an announcement from Santander last week, that it is to rebrand Abbey, Bradford & Bingley and Alliance & Leicester.

"It's not an insignificant change for the UK High Street. Some of the most famous names in retail banking are disappearing" said our business editor.

Those with a C&G mortgage will continue to have their home loan under that brand - with new customers still being taken on via mortgage brokers.

C&G has been a significant player in the UK mortgage market, offering some of the lowest standard variable rates, said BBC personal finance reporter Kevin Peachey.

The most recent data available showed that Lloyds - through C&G - had an 8.4% share of the UK mortgage market by the end of 2007.

Andrew Montlake, of independent mortgage broker Coreco, said the loss of the brand on the High Street was "an inevitable consequence of brutal market conditions".

"For borrowers, this is a real blow to competition and consumer choice," he added. "

[threetimesdead]

Sorry didn't notice earlier thread

[OnlyMe]

"For borrowers, this is a real blow to competition and consumer choice," he added. "

No it isn't. It is just one less poxy money shop trading style.

[mattyfc]

How Long before all the duplicated branches are closed? No sense in them having two physical locations on every high street. Once they get all the IT integrated they will surely merge them all, same for HQ's, call centres and the rest. Lloyds will end up considerably more profitable in the long term once the debts are absorbed and all the extra weight is shed.

[gravity always wins]

Because its the Chelt & Glos southerners rather thna the Halifax and Scottish northerners

Barnwood, Gloucester it is a Labour seat though.

edited to add Chelsea Building Society nearby (Cheltenham) also looking dodgy, Fortis locally is a nationalised bank now so not sure about its future. Capita don't know what future holds. Wincanton logistics gone. Zurich nearly gone. Aviation industry going.

So looking pretty rosy round Gloucester way then, green shoots abound

Edited June 9, 2009 by gravity always wins

[uptherebels]

So looking pretty rosy round Gloucester way then, green shoots abound

Don't you still have the Bank of England place, down by the docks? It used to be a hospital (not sure if you are old enough to remember that )

[gravity always wins]

Don't you still have the Bank of England place, down by the docks? It used to be a hospital (not sure if you are old enough to remember that )

I think it closed but would defer to anyone more knowledgeable.

[contractor]

Jeeus, why all the fuss. I know it's sad people are losing their jobs etc. but

Overcapacity in the auto market >>> Bankruptcy and plant closure

Overcapacity in the finance market >>> should lead to branch closures and not Government bungs, paid by the taxpayer

[yokel]

Wasn't there some hastily airbrushed comment at the time of the Lloyds TSB take over of HBOS that it would protect Scottish jobs - the Halifax/Yorkshire MPs quickly objected and the idea was not spoken out loud again.

The C&G branch staff must be sickened that their company takes over a basket case and it is they that are closed down so that the Halifax branches can stay open - but it is a way for both Scottish and Yorkshire jobs to be protected. I expect the new caring, sharing, open and consultative Gordon to apologise for making this happen with his friend Victor.

(I have no VI with C&G, except that their cashpoints are in handy places round here)

Y

Edited June 9, 2009 by yokel

[TylerDurden]

my mortgage is with C&G, should I be worried?

Its due to revert back to standard variable rate in july, I'm hoping it will still do this as it will be saving me a whole load of interest.

[bobthe~]

my mortgage is with C&G, should I be worried?

Its due to revert back to standard variable rate in july, I'm hoping it will still do this as it will be saving me a whole load of interest.

No.

Other than a reduction in competition might mean in the longer term that SVR will increase, but IRs generally aren't going much below 0.5% anyway.

[50%deposit]

more empty space on the Low Street.

[VedantaTrader]

I understood it, alright. Doesn't make it less crooked, though. I want them to suffer because the charges are unlawful and they are usurous scum, like all bank employees everywhere. And he is a self-righteous tosspot.

Medical bills or not, thats still your own bed you made for yourself. You are totally responsible for yourself, and its probably the attitude of always blaming someone else for your own downfalls that is the very reason you havent got money to look after yourself. Dont wish your own self-inflicted, and bad luck on other people. You would be better of if you focused on looking after yourself.

[InternationalRockSuperstar]

Nice to see the government isn't propping up useless jobs for once. We should get our money back quicker if more sensible decisions like this are made.

don't be daft; they've already spent the money on coke and hookers.

you'll never see that money again, or if you do it'll be in a wheebarrow.

[sharpz]

i did work for the aa finance. we got pulled of phone improptu this morning and told we lost our jobs. lloyds no longer wanted to do buisness with the aa finance so 100 of us have lost our jobs.

ah well - gunna have to become a porn star

[Y-QUERK]

don't be daft; they've already spent the money on coke and hookers.

And there was me thinkung they wasted it.

[200p]

Remember the classic 1990s commercial?

Yahwe, ahaha Yahwe....

[SNACR]

Not at all I'd never ignore you M, or any other 'Vet'.

Just trying to weed out the hobby horse riders.

I see no one is disagreeing with my contention that ex-C&G staffers will be stuffed rather than ex-Lloyds.

One surprise is that its taken so long. When Sun Alliance took over the Phoenix in the 80s they had axed 90% of the Phoenix staff within 12months. As it happens SA gave me a good start in my career but they were/are vicious swine during acquisitions.

It's staggering that people buy into the guff that they'll be keeping the brand alive etc. If management aren't taking advantage of synergy cost savings what was the point of the merger/acquisition in the first place?

This has been going on a long time and likely to get worse (Woolwich, Portman etc). With online banking there's very little coherent logic behind a high st branch network. People might like somewhere to go and talk to someone face to face but it's all very much a case of computer says yes or no, these days. High st branch staff are always very poor in most cases and call centres are generally a better route for reaching someone who knows what they're talking about.

_____

In respect of the churlish comments directed at bank staff. I do agree that overdraft charges of £35 are exorbitant and don't reflect any sort of true cost to the bank of not making payment.

Once a product like a more sophisticated prepaid debit card comes along where there's no scope for incurring any charges I can see the whole current bank account model running into severe difficulties.

Many people like myself must just want a personal bank account that allows me to receive and make payments only and don't really require any other of the banks's 'services'.

Edited June 9, 2009 by Soon Not a Chain Retailer