Credit crunch claims UK jobs

The credit crunch looked to have claimed around 160 UK jobs today after the closure of a sub-prime lender was announced.

US bank Morgan Stanley said it was shutting its Cheshire-based Advantage Home Loans business due to the “continued deterioration” of the mortgage business.

The niche lender, which provides UK mortgages for people with poor credit histories and other specialist products, employs around 160 people in its Ellesmere Port headquarters.

Morgan Stanley has suffered since the credit markets dried up last summer as crisis hit the sub-prime investment market, and has been forced to write off billions of dollars worth of assets.