Lloyds share price: Bank to move 1,000 insurance unit staff to outsourcer

Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) will transfer about 1,000 staff in its insurance division to an outsourcing company, Unite has said. The news has angered the trade union, which has called the move ‘betrayal’.

Lloyds’ share price has slipped into the red in today’s session, having given up 0.68 percent to 65.42p as of 14:42 BST, underperforming the broader UK market, with the benchmark FTSE 100 index currently standing 0.02 percent lower at 7,299.81 points. The group’s shares have added more than four percent to their value this year, as compared with an over two-percent rise in the Footsie.

Trade union Unite said in a statemen today that Lloyds had told about 1,100 staff that it was outsourcing its closed book operations from its insurance division to TCS Diligenta. The announcement will impact staff in Edinburgh and Bristol. 

“The wholescale transfer of 1,000 Lloyds Banking Group staff to Diligenta is nothing short of a betrayal of these workers,” Unite national office Rob McGregor commented in the statement. “The bank’s ‘sale’ of its committed Scottish Widows and Clerical Medical staff represents contempt for long serving and skilled employees.” 

Reuters reported in its coverage of the news that the FTSE 100 group had confirmed the transfer of jobs, noting that the new arrangements “will make managing heritage products simpler and more efficient for the bank’s customers”.

The move comes as Lloyds continues with its cost-cutting efforts under chief executive António Horta-Osório. The Financial Times reports that Horta-Osório is set to unveil his next three-year strategic plan for the bailed-out lender at the start of next year, which is expected to focus on pushing into the wealth management and bancassurance market with a further focus on digital services.

As of 15:11 BST, Tuesday, 26 September, Lloyds Banking Group share price is 65.29p.