Shock and anger over Bristol job losses

Bristol workers with insurance firm Royal Sun Alliance have spoken of their shock after they were told 400 of them will lose their jobs by next March.

The company's office in the former Sweb building on the city centre entre will close.

RSA is the UK's second largest insurance company and one of Bristol's biggest employers in the financial sector .

The Bristol Evening Post was told yesterday about the closure at a series of meetings.

Workers, some of whom have been with the company for more than 20 years, were in tears as the news was broken to them.

The firm had announced earlier this year that it was shedding 1,200 staff from its 8,000 British workforce with the aim of saving £70 million.

But the first blow has fallen in Bristol.

Around 400 full-time posts are being lost but the move will affect 500 people altogether.

The announcement has also left a question mark over the landmark RSA West Gate building - the former headquarters of SWEB.

One member of staff who has worked for the company for more than six years said: "We were taken into a meeting at 10.30 and told they were going to close the site down.

"People started crying in the meeting, a lot of people have mortgages, some have been there more than 20 years. My friend and her partner are both being made redundant and they have a mortgage and a one-year old.

"Another friend is from India, and her visa runs out in September, so she'll have to go back if she doesn't have a job."

The woman - who asked not to be named - went on: "The firm has been in the office since 1986 and I have been there six years," she said.

"I'm gutted. It's so hard to find a job at the moment. and there is nothing really out there."

Norman Goater has worked at RSA for more than six years, but now he has to face up to the fact he will be one of many without a job.

"To say we're shocked is an understatement," said the 63-year-old, of Westerleigh Close, Downend. "It was a complete bombshell to everybody.

"Personally, I think RSA is a very good company to work for and they have said they will support the staff as much as they can."

Another employee said: "It's been terrible. We've just been told we've lost our jobs, basically."

According to staff who attended the meetings the building will handed back to the landlord next summer.

RSA will move its rapid claims unit to Halifax, home insurance work to Peterborough and motor insurance to Glasgow. Other work is being sent to Peterborough and Liverpool.

A company statement was read out to staff at the meetings which said that people will begin as early as September with the final staff leaving next March.

Because of the tough job market the company said it would let people leave early with full redundancy packages if they got a confirmed job offer .

The statement said RSA was closing down is operation in Bristol because it was using less than two thirds of its office space and it wanted restructure the firm into individual departments based in one location.

"Because Bristol deals with different kinds of work it was easier to move the work elsewhere."

After the meetings staff were told to go home for the day but to report back for work this morning.

Yesterday's announcement is the biggest single number of job losses announced in Bristol since the start of the recession and is a major blow to the city's economy.

Stephen Williams - the Lib Dem MP whose constituency includes the centre of Bristol - heard the grim news for the first time yesterday.

He said: "This is a terrible blow for the city's economy at a time when it is in a frail condition it is also sad news for the people involved who will lose their jobs.

"This announcement will also leave a big question mark over a landmark building in the heart of the city."

The company - which has been in Bristol for more than 20 years - has stressed that it will continue to have a small office in the city employing around 40 people working for its commercial brokers division.

Adrian Brown, the chief executive of the firm, said: "Decisions like this that affect our people are always difficult.

"We have made the announcement at this early stage to maximise opportunities for staff to find alternative employment, either within the company or outside.

"Our people are highly skilled and we will give them all the support we can to help them find new jobs"

But unions are still angry at the announcement as the company made a profit last year.

National spokesman Rob MacGregor said: "The decision by RSA to earmark the Bristol office for closure will shock the local community. The workforce in Bristol will be distraught to learn that the company is to withdraw as a major employer from the city where it has a long and proud history.

"Unite is appalled that 500 staff now face redundancy while the local job market is so fragile. The prospect of finding alternative employment looks bleak.

"Representatives from Unite will be meeting with the UK chief executive next week to urge him to reconsider the decision to close the Bristol office by June 2010."

One official from the Unite union said: "We have been involved in consultation with the company and both parties remain committed to mitigating the consequences of this decision.

"Our immediate priority is to communicate with our representatives and members. We will oppose any compulsory redundancies."

After the news had been announced, workers were told they could go home for the day to take stock of what happened.

Many walked the short distance to the Slug and Lettuce pub to come to terms with it.

For some the news was unthinkable – three members of the same family all heard they will almost certainly be made redundant.

The cuts will be phased over the coming months and it is believed they will start in the autumn.

Marie Scott, the Unite union representative for the office, told the Bristol Evening Post: "The briefings were given this morning and it was absolutely dreadful. The staff were distraught, they were in tears and they wanted to get away as soon as possible."

A meeting will be held for staff today and next week a delegation of union representatives will meet the UK CEO of the company to put their views across.

But the meeting is unlikely to save the livelihood of the hundreds of staff in the city centre.

Many, like Mr Goater, have mortgages to pay. And the insurance underwriter is not optimistic about finding another job given the number of cuts in the financial sector over the past 18 months.