Royal London, the UK's largest mutual life and pensions company, has today announced proposed changes following a review of the UK operations of the Royal Liver business.
The review was undertaken to identify the best way to integrate business operations in Liverpool with the rest of the Royal London Group. The proposed changes, which are subject to consultation, are to integrate Liverpool operations into the existing Royal London structure, based at Wilmslow, and to bring all asset management together into one structure in London.
This will lead to closure of the Liverpool office, with up to 222 roles becoming redundant. 105 new roles will be created in Wilmslow, with a further 7 in London, and a process has been put in place to enable Liverpool-based employees to apply for these roles on a "preferred candidate" basis. Discussions will be taking place with these employees to establish their interest in the new roles.
The 90 day collective consultation period starts today (8 August), with individual consultations beginning next week. Integration plans have not yet been developed in detail but the expectation is that the majority of the work would be transferred by the end of 2011.
The Caledonian Life business in the Republic of Ireland was not part of the review and is not affected by the proposed changes.
Stephen Shone, Group Finance Director at Royal London, said:
"We have given careful consideration to the proposed changes being announced today, and recognise the implications that an announcement of this nature has for employees. We are putting in place a comprehensive package of support for all employees who are affected by the proposed changes, and this will include the availability of specialist outplacement support. I very much hope that as many people as possible will take advantage of the opportunities arising from the creation of more than 100 new roles."
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