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The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is to close its office in Bristol, leading to a further 440 job losses, it has emerged.
The Aztec West site is the second site closure announced by RBS in the South West, with a site in Plymouth also closing.
RBS confirmed earlier in the month that it will be axing jobs after posting £2bn in pre-tax profits. The cuts are part of RBS’ strategic review announced in September 2010, with 3,500 planned job cuts.
An RBS spokesperson said: “We announced last year that we would be reducing the number of centres we operate from, and that regrettably this would lead to job losses. We identified the sites that would close over the next two years and committed to giving our employees 12 months’ notice of the closures.
“We will do all we can to support our employees, offer redeployment opportunities wherever possible and to keep compulsory redundancies to an absolute minimum. Having to cut jobs is the most difficult part of our work to rebuild RBS.”
David Fleming, national officer at the Unite union, said: “Unite has expressed to RBS its frustration about the bank’s decision to close its site in Bristol and also make another 440 staff cuts from its customer support operations.
“RBS must reconsider the closure of the Bristol site and find alternative employment to prevent the devastation that this will cause the local community.”
The news comes after Aviva , Britain’s second-biggest insurer, announced earlier this month that it plans to shed 384 jobs in Bristol from next year following the expiry of a life and savings joint venture with RBS.
The job cuts, to be phased in over a year starting in the second half of 2012, reflect the closure of the joint venture’s dedicated administration centre at Bristol, an Aviva spokesman said.
