Barclays to cut 180 jobs at Cardiff mortgage centre

Barclays has confirmed it is closing its mortgage centre in Cardiff with the loss of 180 jobs in the city.

144 of the posts are being moved to other Barclays sites in Liverpool and Leeds.

Sixty jobs will be completely cut, however 20 of these posts have already been lost voluntarily in recent months.

The workers' union Unite has condemned the closure and called for the bank to reconsider.

Staff at the centre in Llanishen were told about the changes on Wednesday morning and are being given the option of redundancy or applying for relocation.

The move is part of a major restructuring at the bank to cut costs.

Rob Harris, managing director for Barclays UK Home Solutions said: "Barclays is working hard to meet customer needs. Part of this work is ensuring that our contact centre site processes are working efficiently to enable our teams to work together more effectively.

"Unfortunately this means that our contact centre in Cardiff will be closing in 2018.

'Think again'

"We are being open and transparent by sharing this proposal with our colleagues at the earliest possible opportunity and we will provide full support to them throughout the process."

Unite regional officer Steve Pantak said the union was "angry".

"The union is completely opposed to the decision to close this workplace with no alternative employment offered to the 180 loyal and hardworking staff in this centre.

"Unite will continue to press for Barclays to work to mitigate these job losses but the fact is that this highly skilled and dedicated workforce will be made redundant and we call on Barclays to think again and reverse this decision."

Barclays - along with other UK banks - has been closing branches, cutting jobs and selling unwanted assets as it seeks to become more profitable.

Chief Executive Jes Staley said on 23 February that the bank would close its "non-core" division of unwanted assets in June - six months ahead of schedule.