Support services firm nets BoI deal

BANK OF IRELAND has awarded the British support services company Alfred McAlpine a €116.1 million facilities services contract, which will see the bank outsource its administration, cleaning, building, telephone and post services to the London-based group.

The contract forms part of a wider-reaching cost reduction programme at Bank of Ireland and, on its own, will result in savings of about €30m for the company over the course of the seven-year deal.

While a voluntary redundancy programme will be made available for existing bank staff in the relevant areas, a spokesperson for BoI yesterday said that it expects only a small percentage of workers to sign up for it, with the bank “envisaging the vast majority of workers affected by the move will transfer to McAlpine”.