Barclays to put 280 call centre workers’ jobs at risk

BANKING GIANT Barclays has announced that it could cut hundreds of jobs from one of its customer contact centres in Yorkshire.

A total of 280 employees at the bank’s Millshaw Court centre in Leeds have been told their jobs are at risk.

Around 115 of these roles will be relocated to Manchester, Liverpool and Sunderland with the rest set to be cut.

The Millshaw Court site in the Beeston area of the city is currently up for sale, with a planning application underway to convert it into flats.

The bank said it would keep the centre’s remaining workforce informed on a search for an alternative office and said it had secured a three-year extension to the lease until November 2021.

A Barclays spokesman said: “Barclays currently employs over 12,000 colleagues across the north of England over a number of sites.

“Due to changes in our business, we have informed 280 colleagues based at Millshaw Court in Leeds that their roles are at risk, with around 115 of those roles relocating to Manchester, Liverpool and Sunderland.

“We don’t take these decisions lightly and will do everything we can to support these colleagues, working closely with Unite the union.”

Unite regional officer Christian Ratcliffe said the decision was “deeply irresponsible”, adding that the union was opposed to compulsory redundancies.

“Unite has made it clear to the bank that these plans will significantly damage both the business and the customer experience.

“The number of employees at this key Barclays strategic site was 1,500 in 2014, and the announcement today will leave less than 600 permanent employees in Millshaw. Employees will be devastated.

“Unite is also calling on Barclays to urgently identify an alternative local site following the news that the lease on the current building will end in 2021.”