In the letter to Mr Brennan they state 177 employees have been informed that there will be a reduction of around 127 roles and that their current roles are at risk of redundancy.
"This is a deeply worrying development and I fully intend to monitor the situation carefully," said Mr Brennan.
"I hope all possibilities and avenues are explored before anyone is made redundant."
Below is the letter from Zurich Insurance announcing the job losses:
Kevin Brennan MP
c/o Transport House
1 Cathedral Road
Cardiff
CF11 9SD
Date: 6 July 2011
Dear Mr Brennan
This is a courtesy contact to you, as a valued Zurich Insurance constituency MP, to give you advanced warning of some announcements Zurich will be making today.
By way of background, the insurance industry has been experiencing challenging market conditions particularly in its Personal Lines business and, specifically, in terms of motor insurance. In response to the difficult market conditions, at the end of 2010 Zurich embarked on our strategic activity to fix and grow our Personal Lines business.
Today we will be taking two further significant steps in relation to this strategy and, specifically, to deliver a new direct and online personal insurance capability. In line with their considerable and established experience in this area, we will be entering into a strategic partnership with Endsleigh, part of the Zurich Group, who will become responsible for the sales and subsequent servicing and premium collection of new Personal Lines direct business. We believe this will deliver an excellent customer experience, particularly in the online arena.
At the same time, we have reviewed the level of support needed to manage the servicing, premium collections and claims of our existing Personal Lines business. As a result, we are proposing to close or downsize a number of our operations at our Cardiff office at ‘Fusion Point’ in the CF10 postcode district and today 177 employees there have been informed that this will lead to a reduction of around 127 roles and that their current roles are at risk of redundancy.
As a number of those affected are likely to be your constituents, we want to reassure you that we realise that these proposals will have a big impact on everyone concerned and we do not underestimate the challenges that the changes will bring. However, we believe that these changes are necessary if we are to re-enter the Personal Lines Direct market with the right customer proposition and operating cost in an extremely challenging market.
We will be working closely with our colleagues in Cardiff to ensure they get the necessary support and information they require and, where possible, are offered redeployment opportunities where appropriate.
In terms of the premises at ‘Fusion Point’, we are in the process of agreeing to ‘let’ the existing vacant space in Cardiff but, as the formal deal is not yet signed, we are currently unable to confirm who the tenant will be.
I thought it also important to point out that we are in discussion with Tony Godfrey in the Welsh Government as Zurich originally received a Welsh Assembly Grant.
The announcements will be made to the employees affected at 11am today and, as such, I felt it only right to bring it to your direct attention. I would be happy to discuss further any questions you may have.
Yours sincerely,
Sophie Spink
Head of Government and Industry Affairs
Government and Industry Affairs
0 comments: