THE Lloyds Banking Group plans to close its large call centre at Essex House in Southend, making more than 800 staff redundant by the end of this year, Lloyds Trade Union says.

The union says the Bank’s plans involve:

• 865 permanent staff being made compulsorily redundant

• 75 further staff working in specific areas forced to transfer workplace to Chelmsford

A spokesman for the bank disputed the figures and added: "As part of the Group’s simplification programme set out in its 2011 strategic plan, the decision has been reached to close Essex House, leading to around 570 role reductions.

"A further c75 members of staff currently at Essex House will move to our Chelmsford location.

"As with any decision that affects our colleagues, this was a very difficult one to make. We will do everything we can to provide support for both our employees and the local community to manage this transition.

"We will work with our colleagues wherever possible to try to find suitable roles for them elsewhere within the Group.

"We are also working with external employment agencies and setting up an on-site dedicated Resource Centre to provide additional support and opportunities for those colleagues whom we are unable to redeploy internally.

"As part of our strategic plan we are focusing on certain key multi-function UK support centres.

"Our Centres of Excellence for colleagues help us provide a better customer experience and improved customer satisfaction. As we reduce our number of locations, the work carried out in Essex House, Southend, where our lease is expiring, will be transferred to a number of these sites across the UK."

Steve Tatlow, assistant general secretary at LTU, has said: “It is disgraceful that Lloyds Bank is planning to throw almost 900 Southend staff out of jobs, including 690 mainly long-serving permanent staff who will be condemned to compulsory redundancy”.



“This announcement will cause considerable distress to Southend staff and their families and real harm to the Southend community and local economy”.



“We are calling upon the whole Southend community – customers, politicians, council, businesses and the media – to join us in vigorously opposing the closure of Essex House and to help us force Lloyds Bank to ditch its closure plans”.

Lloyds Trade Union says it simply does not accept the bank’s grounds for the closure of Essex House.

It adds alternative sites could be selected for closure instead that still deliver on the Bank’s strategy of operating from fewer but larger sites, but without condemning almost 700 staff to compulsory redundancy and inflicting such harm on the Southend community.

A union spokesman said: "For this reason, LTU will be seeking to forge a coalition of Southend interests – consisting of customers, politicians, council, local businesses and the media - to force the Bank to drop its plans to close Essex House and to instead adopt more reasonable and acceptable measures to achieve its overall objectives."