1,400 jobs to go in UK

Plans to axe 1,400 financial services jobs across Britain were announced yesterday as banking group Barclays said it would slash 408 IT jobs.

Also yesterday, subprime or higher-risk lender Cattles said it was considering plans to cut 1,000 positions.

Elsewhere, clothing-to-food retailer Marks & Spencer said it would cut as many as 1,230 jobs and shut 27 stores as Britain teeters close to recession.

Barclays said it planned to shed staff in order to run a more efficient operation.

"Barclays continually reviews its operations and resources so that it functions as efficiently as possible as business needs and customer requirements evolve," the banking group said in a statement.

"As part of this process, we have identified some aspects of our technology operations where the organisational structure impedes performance and roles and responsibilities for colleagues are unclear. In some cases, roles are obsolete or being duplicated elsewhere within the bank.

"This will affect around 400 positions – 158 permanent staff and 250 contractors. All of the roles affected are UK-based, principally in Cheshire (northwest England) and London. None of the roles are being offshored."

Cattles meanwhile said the axing of 1,000 positions would deliver savings of around £40 million ($60m).

Cattles chief executive David Postings said in a statement: "We have not taken these decisions lightly and we firmly believe that, by cutting costs and preserving capital in the business, we can continue to trade profitably, weather the current economic conditions, and continue to serve over 850,000 customers in this important part of the market."

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