Job losses will be ‘a small number of hundreds’, says takeover bank

ROYAL Bank of Scotland played down the threat of job losses as a result of its takeover of First Active.

Reacting to the takeover, the Irish Bank Officials Association warned job cuts wold have to be voluntary.

IBOA general secretary Larry Broderick insisted there could be no compulsory redundancies.

“IBOA members were astounded to hear talk of job losses as a result of Royal Bank of Scotland’s bid for First Active. In a financial institution as large and profitable as Royal Bank of Scotland, there is simply no business rationale for any compulsory redundancies,” he said.

Just recently IBOA and Ulster Bank signed a co-operative agreement and IBOA wants to ensure that any negotiations on this issue is in line with the principles agreed in the agreement, he said.

“IBOA have held preliminary discussions with senior management from Ulster Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland and will be arranging formal meetings with both to discuss the bid and ensure members jobs and terms and conditions are protected into the future.”

RBOS stressed job losses would be “modest” if the deal, which is subject to Stock Exchange approval, goes through.

“The job losses are very small. We’re talking a small number of hundreds,” chief executive Fred Goodwin said.

Stressing the bank’s policy was to create competition even among its own separate business, he said concern about branches being closed together in the case of Ulster Bank and First Active, particularly in the Dublin area, ought not to raise too many concerns

“In England, where Bank of Scotland and NatWest had branches close to each other we used the rationale that people opted for one over the other,” he said.

First Active chief executive Cormac McCarthy raised the prospect of new branches being opened.

First Active employs 673 staff in 51 branches and Ulster Bank has 4,927 on its payroll with 211 branches.

Job losses are expected to be in the back office as computer and other services are integrated. Both head offices will be retained.