HBOS cutting 118 jobs in Cardiff

The union says it want to ensure no compulsory redundancies.

The union which represents Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) workers says a total of 118 jobs are to go at two of its sites in Cardiff.

HBOS employs 1,200 people in the Welsh capital, most of them at Cardiff Gate Business Park and in Cardiff Bay.

Last month HBOS said it was closing its mortgage processing centre in the city with the loss of 150 jobs.

The Accord union said the latest announcement came before the news of the takeover by Lloyds TSB.

Accord general secretary Ged Nichols said the 118 jobs had been under threat because of the reduction in HBOS's credit card and loans' business.

'Stockmarket speculators'

He said the union was hoping that some of the people losing their jobs could be redeployed within the company.

The union was "committed to ensuring there will be no compulsory redundancies," he added.

On the merger with Lloyds TSB, Mr Nichols said HBOS had been forced into its current predicament by "stock market speculators".

He said the union would be working with the Lloyds TSB union and Unite, which has members in both the banks, "to make sure that security of employment is the highest priority that we can put forward".

HBOS announced in August that its mortgage application centre in Principality House in Cardiff city centre would close by the end of March 2009.

It said it was working with unions to ensure that as many people as possible who lost their jobs would be redeployed locally.

Mr Nichols added: "If anybody thinks they are taking an axe to the HBOS group, we will be standing up for the people who work there and their pensions and their jobs."

In July, Barclays announced it was cutting 300 jobs at its home loans division Firstplus in Cardiff, while online mortgage advice company Moneypilot, part of Principality, said 26 jobs were at risk at its city centre office.