06/02/2008

Jobs Threat At Troubled Northern Rock

Virgin has reversed its promise not to cut jobs at Northern Rock if it successful in its takeover bid of the troubled lender.

The move has alarmed unions who had originally vowed to fight compulsory redundancies.

Virgin boss, Sir Richard Branson had previously said that he was confident there would be no redundancies under a Virgin-backed rescue.

However, Jayne-Anne Gadhia, the Head of Virgin Money, who is in line for a post running the bank if the buy-out bid is successful, said that it could not continue to promise there would be no job losses.

This latest news means further uncertainty for Northern Rock's workforce, some of whom are already on extended holiday while its future is resolved.

Employee numbers would probably come down from 6,000 to about 5,000, according to the BBC.

On Friday, the government told all potential rescuers that up to £40bn of Treasury-backed bonds to be issued by Northern Rock would have to be repaid in between one and three years.

If that is to happen Virgin would have to massively shrink the size of its mortgage book from more than £100bn to about £60bn. This action would mean fewer staff would be needed to service mortgages.

Northern Rock is a key employer in the North East and job losses could prompt a further backlash over the government's handling of the crisis at the bank.

(GC)

Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

03 August 2010
Northern Rock Steadfast In Recovery
The boss of a once beleaguered UK bank is "encouraged" by news that nationalised Northern Rock's - a so-called 'bad bank' - has returned to profit following heavy losses last year in the wake of a bail-out by the taxpayer in 2008. Chief Executive Gary Hoffman said the Northern Rock 'AM' results were 'encouraging'.
18 November 2011
Northern Rock Sale 'Poor Judgement' – Labour
Labour's Shadow Minister for the Treasury has said the sale of Northern Rock on Thursday by the Government was a 'poor judgement'. Richard Branson's Virgin investment company announced it was to purchase the almost disastrous Northern Rock bank on Thursday, while it has since emerged the sale will be at a loss for the taxpayer.
18 May 2012
Northern Rock Rescue "Could Cost Taxpayer £2bn"
The National Audit Office (NAO) has estimated that taxpayers could lose almost £2bn once the assets of collapsed bank Northern Rock are wound down. The public spending watchdog also said that taxpayers lost about £480m on the sale of Northern Rock PLC last year.
13 February 2009
Northern Rock Shareholders Lose High Court Bid
Former Northern Rock shareholders have today failed in their legal challenge to the Government's plan to compensate them.
09 May 2006
NTL announces 6,000 jobs cuts
Cable TV operator NTL, which recently acquired Virgin Mobile, has announced that it is to cut 6,000 jobs in the UK by 2007, as it trims back and outsources staff. The company said that the merger with Telewest was likely to realise savings of around £250 million-a-year, as the £3.4 billion merger was completed.