RBS to shed 100 UK jobs

Banking giant RBS is to axe almost 100 jobs from its business dealing with personal loans based-in Rotherham, England, it has been announced.

Union officials reacted with dismay to the fresh job cuts and said they would not accept staff being sacrificed to compensate for "failures" at the top of the organisation.

The bank said: "RBS confirms it has begun consultation with staff in Rotherham and with Unite, the union, following the decision to withdraw its MINT, Lombard Direct and Direct Line brands from the unsecured personal loans market."

The bank deeply regretted that the decision could lead to a reduction of up to 98 jobs.

"This part of our business has seen a decline in demand and we have taken the decision to focus our efforts and our commitment to offering unsecured personal loans through our core brands of NatWest and RBS going forward," said the bank.

It added: "RBS has agreed with Unite that every effort will be made to keep compulsory redundancies to an absolute minimum and redeploy staff wherever possible.

"We will ensure that as decisions are taken that affect our people, our staff hear about them in an orderly and appropriate way and we will do all we can to fully support those staff impacted."

Rob MacGregor, Unite's national officer, said: "It will come as a blow to the local community in Rotherham to learn that RBS is to make 100 job cuts. The staff are dependent on the bank for local employment.

"While the union does not doubt that the global economic downturn continues to bring challenges to the financial services sector, Unite will not accept a situation where staff are sacrificing their jobs to compensate for failures at the top of the organisation."

He added: "The priority now, through continued engagement with Unite, is to mitigate to avoid compulsory redundancies. Staff must be offered redeployment opportunities within RBS and the union will oppose any compulsory job losses."