Ulster Bank accepts advice on downsizing

Ulster Bank has accepted provisional recommendations regarding how it goes about downsizing its operations and reducing headcount.

The bank — which returned to profitability last week and whose future ownership structure is the subject of much speculation — also said yesterday that it expects to begin talks on pay with staff members, covering the next two years, “shortly”.

Ulster has been in negotiations with its staff’s main union representative, the IBOA, since March regarding workers’ conditions during the restructuring of the bank over the coming years.