Lloyds Bank cuts more than 1,000 jobs

Unions called on the bank to postpone the cuts after posting better than expected profit and with the economy under renewed pressure from coronavirus. The FTSE 100 lender is also creating about 330 new jobs.

The cuts are on top of 865 announced in September. Britain's biggest retail bank put redundancy plans on hold during the first Covid-19 shutdown but has restarted cuts. Lloyds reported forecast-beating third-quarter profit on 29 October as mortgage lending boomed.

Most of the latest cuts will affect people working on computer systems and digital processes and branch staff will not be affected. Lloyds said it would try to redeploy people in its business and that most of the job losses would not take effect until January.

The Unite union, which represents some Lloyds workers, criticised the bank for cutting the jobs of staff who had worked through the pandemic. The union called on Lloyds to rethink its approach and stop relying on job cuts.

Rob MacGregor, Unite's national officer, said: “Unite is calling on LBG to do the right thing and put on hold its restructure plans. The threat caused by the pandemic is now unquestionable. We need a fresh approach to the unprecedented challenges that Covid-19 has created for all of us.”

The government has ordered a second lockdown in England starting on Thursday to try to contain the spread of Covid-19. Though restrictions are less severe than the first lockdown it is predicted to cause another sharp dip in economic output.

Accord, another union representing Lloyds' staff, said: "The job losses are a real blow as people continue to deal with the impacts of the pandemic and lockdowns - making the search for alternative roles very difficult for those facing redundancy at a time of increasing unemployment.”