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Article Date:	11/07/2006
Article Title:	Barclays Business Banking division
Barclays Bank is to axe hundreds of finance jobs in its asset and sales finance division. The bank said it will close offices in Birmingham and Hastings with effect from December 2006 and spring 2007 respectively leading to a loss of 350 jobs. The business will be consolidated into one site by expanding the current headquarters in Basingstoke where 140 roles will be created. The move follows hot on the heels of the lender’s announcement last week that it is cutting 1,200 jobs and closing up to 200 branches in a two-year restructuring plan. It is led by American highflier Deanna Oppenheimer, who was brought in to revamp the British retail banking division Stephen Price, managing director, Barclays Asset and Sales Finance, said that the bank decided to restructure its business as a result of feedback from its customers: "Our customers have told us what they want - a more slick and streamlined process. The changes will lead to reinvestment in our business' infrastructure to provide customers with exactly what they want." The bank also said it is aiming to minimise job losses through active steps to redeploy and retrain staff. It is planned that some roles from Birmingham and Hastings will become home based and some back office processing will be outsourced to Intelenet in India. Price added that the decision was a difficult one: “This has not been an easy decision and we have looked carefully at all alternatives for the business. We are being open and honest with staff and have announced this decision early to give us as much time as possible to talk to each member of staff individually and discuss future options with them. We have been in close consultation with our union, Amicus, under our partnership agreement."