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05/02/2004
Insurer's closure sees 1,600 jobs axed
Up to 1,600 jobs have been axed by Norwich Union today after it decided to close its national broker subsidiary, Hill House Hammond (HHH).
The company said 1,200 redundancies would be compulsory, and around 400 staff will be found alternative roles throughout Norwich Union’s UK-wide redeployment process.
The closure of the business will be phased over 2004 and will see the closure of over 240 HHH branches and offices across the UK and the head office in Bristol.
Norwich Union is in advanced discussions with a potential purchaser for ‘Hill House Hammond Business’ - the commercial insurance division of HHH - and a further announcement will be made shortly.
Norwich Union Direct said that it would be creating more than 450 new jobs in its call centres in Norwich, Sheffield, Liverpool, Perth and Bishopbriggs to help handle the business transferred from HHH. It is not clear whether these jobs will be filled by the redeployments.
Patrick Snowball, chief executive, Norwich Union Insurance, said: "We are operating in an extremely competitive environment and have seen significant changes in the way customers buy their insurance.
He added: "Making decisions that affect our staff is always difficult, but we believe these changes are needed for us to remain competitive and adapt to changing market conditions. Norwich Union Direct is already well established in the direct insurance market, offering a wide range of products and services to millions of customers. We believe it will provide us with the best platform to strengthen our direct relationships with customers and better understand their needs."
Norwich Union Direct has said that it will contact all of HHH's 800,000 customers to reassure them that any impact will be kept to a minimum.
(gmcg)
The company said 1,200 redundancies would be compulsory, and around 400 staff will be found alternative roles throughout Norwich Union’s UK-wide redeployment process.
The closure of the business will be phased over 2004 and will see the closure of over 240 HHH branches and offices across the UK and the head office in Bristol.
Norwich Union is in advanced discussions with a potential purchaser for ‘Hill House Hammond Business’ - the commercial insurance division of HHH - and a further announcement will be made shortly.
Norwich Union Direct said that it would be creating more than 450 new jobs in its call centres in Norwich, Sheffield, Liverpool, Perth and Bishopbriggs to help handle the business transferred from HHH. It is not clear whether these jobs will be filled by the redeployments.
Patrick Snowball, chief executive, Norwich Union Insurance, said: "We are operating in an extremely competitive environment and have seen significant changes in the way customers buy their insurance.
He added: "Making decisions that affect our staff is always difficult, but we believe these changes are needed for us to remain competitive and adapt to changing market conditions. Norwich Union Direct is already well established in the direct insurance market, offering a wide range of products and services to millions of customers. We believe it will provide us with the best platform to strengthen our direct relationships with customers and better understand their needs."
Norwich Union Direct has said that it will contact all of HHH's 800,000 customers to reassure them that any impact will be kept to a minimum.
(gmcg)
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