Barclaycard cuts 600 jobs

Barclaycard is set to close its Manchester call centre and move some of the work to India with the loss of more than 600 jobs.Work will be moved to Mumbai and Delhi and some jobs will be transferred to Teesside.

The restructuring will affect 630 workers, who will be paid until October to help them find other work.

The union Amicus said the closure was “totally inappropriate” for such a profitable firm.

Staff at the city centre’ s Dickinson Street call centre were told about the closure on Tuesday morning.

Antony Jenkins, chief executive of Barclaycard, said: “Decisions like these are never easy and we will be doing everything we can to support the affected.

“Barclaycard’s business is becoming more global and to stay successful we must change how we operate to reflect this.

“Unfortunately, closing our Peterloo House site in Manchester centre is part of that process.”

Amicus official Steve Pantak said it had voiced its opposition to the moves.

He said: “At a time of increasing pressure on all staff in Barclaycard, we believe it to be totally inappropriate for this large and highly profitable employer to be announcing closures and job losses.”

Mr Pantak said “robust agreements” were in place to help staff find other jobs.

He added: “We believe that with such a large presence in the North West, Barclays should be able to accommodate all those staff who are displaced but wish to remain with them.

“We will be pushing the bank hard to achieve this outcome.”