U K
B U S I N E S S
P A R K
home page


Financial Services 2003
2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996

The information below comes from the UK Activity Report.
Click here for further details

Barclays is looking into the possibility of transferring thousands of call centre jobs abroad. 30-Dec-2003 NM Rothschild is seeking acquisitions to expand its private banking division, and aims to recruit up to 80 additional bankers over the next few years. 29-Dec-2003 Halifax Card Services is to recruit 150 additional staff at its credit card customer service centre in Cardiff over the next three months. 23-Dec-2003 Nicholsons, the accountancy firm with 60 staff in Lincoln and Newark, is to relocate its Lincoln staff to the new £6m Point office park next year. 23-Dec-2003 Watson Burton, the Newcastle-based law firm, is to relocate to a new £20m office at St James' Gate in June, with the creation of 60 new jobs. 23-Dec-2003 Ofex is to raise £1m in a share placing to fund the development of a quote-driven share trading system. 22-Dec-2003 Coutts is to open new private banking offices in Essex and Suffolk over the next 15 months. 22-Dec-2003 Beckett Group is to expand its financial services business in Bury St Edmunds with the creation of 45 new jobs over the next two years, and is also planning to seek new premises in the town. 19-Dec-2003 Barclays is recruiting a further 30 staff to start work at its call centre in Sunderland in February, while 70 are due to start in January. 19-Dec-2003 Alan Boswell Group is to increase the 100-strong workforce at the Norwich head office of its insurance and financial services business. 17-Dec-2003 Man Group is looking to expand its equities research and brokerage division by recruiting analysts and sales teams from banks and other institutions. 16-Dec-2003 The Inland Revenue is to set up a Tax Credits call centre at the Balliol Business Park in North Tyneside early next year, with the creation of 500 jobs. 16-Dec-2003 Abbey National is considering plans to sell its Glasgow-based asset management business for about £30bn. 15-Dec-2003 Cap Gemini Ernst & Young has won a £3bn contract to manage tax and NI systems for the Inland Revenue, which will involve the transfer of about 3,200 staff from EDS and Accenture at sites throughout the country. 12-Dec-2003 The Financial Services Authority has closed down Tribune Risk & Insurance Services of Dalkeith with the loss of 70 jobs, leaving 40,000 people without household insurance. 12-Dec-2003 National Savings is to close the former Post Office savings account and transfer of up to 13m customers to a new account, and several hundred staff are being recruited in Glasgow to handle the change. 12-Dec-2003 Esure is to expand its insurance call centre operations in Manchester, with the creation of about 500 jobs. 12-Dec-2003 The National Assembly for Wales is to transfer hundreds of civil service jobs to North and Mid Wales by the end of 2007, and is expected to identify two suitable sites by spring 2004. 12-Dec-2003 Its4me is to recruit 10 more staff at its car insurance call centre in Norwich, and the 100-strong workforce is expected to double over the next two years. 10-Dec-2003 Admiral Insurance has opened a trial call centre in South Africa with 30 staff, due to difficulties in recruiting staff for late shifts at its offices in Cardiff and Swansea. 08-Dec-2003 Countrywide Assured is planning to sell or demerge its closed life assurance business for up to £100m. 08-Dec-2003 The Department of Trade & Industry has announced plans to introduce a new telephone helpline for consumers with debt problems in 2004, in conjunction with the Consumer Credit Counselling Service. 08-Dec-2003 Royal & Sun Alliance is to close its MoreThan insurance office in Ipswich with the loss of 240 jobs, while its Hinckley call centre will also close with the loss of 108 jobs. 05-Dec-2003 Aviva is to shed 2,350 jobs in its Norwich Union insurance business, in order to transfer call centre and back office work from the UK to India. 03-Dec-2003 Lee Crowder and Cobbetts are planning to merge to create a combined law firm with 685 staff, and there are plans to create more than 100 jobs at a new office in Birmingham over the next three years. 02-Dec-2003 HSBC is to shed 450 of the 1,500 jobs in the equities side of its worldwide investment bank. 28-Nov-2003 Royal & Sun Alliance is to close two Corporate Commercial offices, with the loss of 34 jobs in Liverpool and 52 in Reading. 28-Nov-2003 The Inland Revenue is planning to set up a tax credit division at the former Motorola site in Bathgate, with the creation of 500 new jobs and the relocation of 300 staff from Livingston. 27-Nov-2003 Clydesdale Bank is considering plans to relocate back-office jobs from Scotland to countries such as India, Malaysia and Bangladesh. 25-Nov-2003 Money Centre is planning to increase the workforce at its new property finance office in High Wycombe from eight to 62 within two years, and is also looking to open new offices in Windsor, Sheffield and Leeds. 24-Nov-2003 Skandia Life, the Southampton-based arm of the Swedish insurance group, is said to be considering plans for a £1.2bn management buy-out backed by Apax Partners. 24-Nov-2003 Drakes Group has raised £4m from Lloyds Acquisition Finance to fund the expansion of its debt-collection business. 24-Nov-2003 Ault Insurance Brokers is seeking acquisitions to expand its West Bromwich-based insurance business, which currently employs 31 staff. 18-Nov-2003 PayPoint, the payment collection company with 150 staff, has been put up for sale and Ernst & Young is seeking bids of about £100m. 17-Nov-2003 Moneysupermarket.com is planning to raise up to £100m by floating 25% of its Chester-based financial services business next year. 17-Nov-2003 Universe Group is to raise £3.4m in a rights issue to fund the expansion of its loyalty cards and payment systems business. 17-Nov-2003 Chiswell Associates, the London-based fund manager with an estimated value of £30m, has been put up for sale by Nedcor of South Africa. 17-Nov-2003 The Department of Trade & Industry is planning to shed up to 500 of the 5,000 jobs at its headquarters in London, mainly affecting administrative and back-office staff. 17-Nov-2003 Allianz Cornhill is expanding its insurance claims centre in Bristol, having opened a new office for 63 staff in Baldwin Street. 14-Nov-2003 Catlin of Bermuda is seeking permission from the Financial Services Authority to open an insurance office in the UK. 13-Nov-2003 Barclays Capital is planning to expand its business in continental Europe with the creation of about 250 investment banking jobs next year, and is particularly interested in France, Italy and Portugal. 13-Nov-2003 Goshawk is to close its Lloyd's-based business in London by the end of the year with the loss of some of the 80 jobs, in order to refocus on property and marine reinsurance. 11-Nov-2003 Britannic is to close its Britannic Retirement Solutions enhanced annuity business, with the loss of most of the 210 jobs at the BRS headquarters in Redhill. 11-Nov-2003 Royal & Sun Alliance is planning to dispose of its 50,000 sq ft Mayfair headquarters and consolidate its London-based staff at its Leadenhall Court site. 10-Nov-2003 Sidley Austin Brown & Wood, the law firm, is planning to establish a new 80,000 sq ft office at the Woolgate Exchange in London. 10-Nov-2003 KPMG is to stop providing legal services by cutting its links to law firms in 60 countries, due to the impact of US corporate governance rules. 07-Nov-2003 Kilminster Partnership is to recruit 20 advisers at its new financial services office in Nottingham, and a further 200 jobs will be created in a nationwide expansion programme. 04-Nov-2003 Bradford & Bingley has acquired a £106m loan portfolio from the GMAC subsidiary of General Motors, as part of a strategy to expand its mortgage business. 03-Nov-2003 HBOS is planning a multi-million pound refurbishment programme at its historic Edinburgh headquarters, which houses 150 staff. 03-Nov-2003 Lloyds TSB is to close a customer contact call centre in Newcastle next year with the loss of 986 jobs, in order to transfer the work to India. 31-Oct-2003 Abbey National is planning a pilot project to transfer about 100 Scottish Provident data processing jobs from Edinburgh and Glasgow to India, and existing staff will be redeployed. 31-Oct-2003 Ambient is planning to float its Moneybox cash machines business, which has an estimated value of up to £60m. 30-Oct-2003 Travelex is planning to expand its foreign exchange business into India, starting with two offices in Mumbai. 29-Oct-2003 Community Broking Group is planning to raise £0.8m in a flotation on Aim, in order to fund the acquisition of brokers and double in size over the next 12 months. 29-Oct-2003 HBOS is to launch a new online insurance business aimed at higher premium car drivers called First Alternative, with the creation of 200 jobs at an operations centre in Manchester. 28-Oct-2003 Baker Tilly is to relocate its Newcastle-based accountancy operations and 100 staff to a 14,000 sq ft unit at the £80m St James Gate development. 28-Oct-2003 Egg is planning to shed 70 of the 2,600 jobs in its online banking business, which could affect call centres in Derby and Dudley and its head office in London. 23-Oct-2003 Svenska Handelsbanken is planning to double the size of its UK business over the next two years, increasing the number of bank branches to 20. 22-Oct-2003 Huntswood Outsourcing has secured a £11m venture capital investment from 3i, in order to expand its outsourcing service to the retail financial services industry. 22-Oct-2003 Caledonia Investments is to invest £15m in a new business called Oval, in order to create a network of regional insurance brokers. 21-Oct-2003 HSBC is planning to shed 4,000 jobs in its UK banking operations by 2006, affecting sites in Brentwood, Birmingham, Sheffield and Cardiff, in order to transfer work to India, China and Malaysia. 17-Oct-2003 Liverpool Victoria is considering reversing a decision to close its financial services office in Exeter, in order to transfer the operation and 130 staff to outsourcing company EDS. 17-Oct-2003 London Stock Exchange is considering plans to transfer its clearing operation from the London Clearing House to the Deutsche Borse. 14-Oct-2003 Skipton Building Society is seeking permission to set up a new support centre for its Homeloan Management mortgage business in Burnley, with the creation of up to 500 jobs. 14-Oct-2003 Royal Mail is to launch a range of banking services in partnership with Bank of Ireland, which will involve a £125m investment in its post offices and computer systems. 08-Oct-2003 Wragge, the law firm, is planning to expand its workforce from 1,000 to 1,750 by 2008, including 1,500 in Birmingham and 250 in London. 08-Oct-2003 Barnetts Solicitors has started to recruit 100 additional staff at its Southport-based conveyancing division. 07-Oct-2003 M&G Financial Services is to shed 50 jobs in Chelmsford over the next few months, in order to transfer some retail administration services work to its site in Basildon. 07-Oct-2003 Bond Pearce, the law firm, is considering plans to set up a new 60,000 sq ft office at Temple Quay in Bristol. 06-Oct-2003 KPMG, the accounting firm, is in negotiations to establish a 60,000 sq ft office at West George Street in Glasgow. 06-Oct-2003 Northern Rock is to close 20 mortgage bank branches with the loss of 150 jobs, but 10 new branches will open in cities not currently covered by its network. 03-Oct-2003 Friends Provident is to close its life insurance direct sales team with the loss of up to 380 jobs. 02-Oct-2003 Deloitte & Touche, the accountancy firm, is to change its name to Deloitte, which will involve changing stationery and signage in 140 countries. 02-Oct-2003 Bradstock, the insurance broker, has suspended its shares and applied to the courts for a provisional liquidation order. 30-Sep-2003 Dickinson Dees, the law firm, is to set up a new office at Trinity Gardens in Newcastle upon Tyne in 2005, and expects to create up to 200 jobs over the next few years. 26-Sep-2003 Lloyds TSB has announced plans to outsource more of its back office operations to India, with the creation of 1,400 jobs by the end of next year. 25-Sep-2003 Cooper Parry, the business adviser, is to relocate to a new £2m office at Pride Park in Derby in May 2004. 24-Sep-2003 Bank of Ireland is planning to close some of its 200 Bristol & West and Bank of Ireland branches in the UK, with a reduction in the 5,500-strong workforce. 24-Sep-2003 Abbey National has announced plans to change its name to Abbey and to rebrand its branch network, as part of a £11m revamp of its corporate image. 24-Sep-2003 Esure is to create a further 250 sales and customer services jobs at its insurance call centre in Glasgow over the next six months. 23-Sep-2003 IW Economic Partnership has announced that Island Call is planning to establish an insurance administration centre at the Prince Consort building in Ryde, with the creation of up to 30 jobs. 22-Sep-2003 Abbey National is considering plans to close Scottish Provident International to new business, due to problems finding a buyer for the Isle of Man-based life assurer. 22-Sep-2003 Standard Life Bank is recruiting an additional 100 staff at its call centre in Edinburgh, following a rise in mortgage lending. 19-Sep-2003 Alea, the reinsurance group, is planning to raise up to £400m in a flotation later this year. 19-Sep-2003 Gartmore Investment Management is planning to launch a new private equity business in October. 17-Sep-2003 WestLB Panmure is considering plans to sell its Panmure corporate broking business to management for at least £50m. 17-Sep-2003 HSBC is to shed about 40 investment banking jobs from its London-based corporate advisory and project finance business. 17-Sep-2003 Royal & Sun Alliance is looking to sell its chain of 360 estate agents, and Cendant of the US is thought to be interested. 15-Sep-2003 McKeags is to create about 50 new jobs at its solicitors' office in Newcastle-upon-Tyne by the end of the year, following an increase in demand for property conveyancing. 10-Sep-2003 Leopold Joseph, the London-based private bank with 3,500 customers, is considering plans to put itself up for sale. 10-Sep-2003 Bradford & Bingley is said to be in talks to acquire the Swinton chain of high-street insurance brokers. 08-Sep-2003 Freeth Cartwright, the Nottingham-based solicitor, is to relocate its commercial operations to a new 48,000 sq ft office in Maid Marian Way in November, including a library and training centre for 270 staff. 05-Sep-2003 Royal & Sun Alliance is to shed a further 1,000 jobs in its general insurance business, and has also announced a £960m rights issue. 05-Sep-2003 Marks & Spencer is to create about 200 new jobs at its financial services division in Chester, in preparation for the launch of a combined credit and loyalty card. 03-Sep-2003 Abbey National is to close its Talorcan hedge fund business with the expected loss of up to 13 jobs, prompting speculation about the future of its asset management operation in Glasgow. 03-Sep-2003 JP Jenkins is planning to launch a new trading facility for unquoted and unlisted shares called JPJL, with an initial group of 75 companies. 01-Sep-2003 Johnston Carmichael is opening an office in Glasgow, as part of a strategy to expand its accountancy business outside its Aberdeen heartland. 01-Sep-2003 Experian is creating 200 jobs at a new customer service centre in Preston over the next few months, in order to handle a contract from Marks & Spencer Financial Services. 29-Aug-2003 Prudential is planning to spend £100m a year expanding its life assurance operations in Asia, and hopes to open branches in 16 Chinese cities. 28-Aug-2003 Royal London is to close its insurance office in Colchester, with the loss of 19 jobs and the relocation of 18 jobs to Wilmslow and London. 27-Aug-2003 Advantage West Midlands is considering plans to invest £3.2m in a new regional stock exchange for Birmingham, and a tender is expected to be issued later this year to find a supplier for the trading system. 26-Aug-2003 Ernst & Young is to combine its Scotland and Northern Ireland accountancy operations into its north of England division, in order to simplify the management structure and reduce costs. 25-Aug-2003 Norwich Union is to expand its main Regent House office in Leicester and relocate 35 insurance staff from Charles Street. 25-Aug-2003 Futurity of Edinburgh is planning to make a series of acquisitions to expand its financial advice business across Scotland. 21-Aug-2003 Impax Group is to raise £2.3m in a share placing to fund the expansion of its financial services and asset management business. 21-Aug-2003 Electra Partners Europe is planning to float Premium Credit, the Epsom-based provider of spread payment loan facilities with about 300 staff, and the business could be valued at up to £250m. 18-Aug-2003 HBOS has outsourced the management of its portfolio of 650 properties to Teesland. 18-Aug-2003 London Forfaiting, the trade finance company, has received a £38m takeover approach from Resurge, which beats a rival offer from FIMBank UK. 18-Aug-2003 Coutts is considering plans to open private banking branches in Liverpool, Newcastle and other northern cities. 18-Aug-2003 Bright Finance is creating 50 jobs at a new headquarters on the Sheffield 35A business park, in order to benefit from rising demand for its loans and mortgages. 15-Aug-2003 Moneysupermarket is planning to expand its online financial services business in Flintshire with the creation of about 200 jobs. 14-Aug-2003 Abbey National is to invest £5.5m in the expansion of its customer enquiries call centre in Belfast over the next two years, with the creation of about 150 jobs. 13-Aug-2003 Vantis has raised £2.6m in a share placing to fund the development of its accountancy and professional services business. 11-Aug-2003 Hastings Direct is looking to recruit a further 100 staff at its insurance call centre and various other departments in Bexhill. 08-Aug-2003 Societe Generale of France is closing its equities proprietary trading desk in London, and about 14 staff will be redeployed elsewhere. 08-Aug-2003 Zurich Financial Services is to close Zurich Life Assurance to new business and sell the remaining operations to Swiss Re for an initial £150m. 07-Aug-2003 Alliance & Leicester is to shed 160 jobs in its wholesale banking business, while about 80 jobs will be lost in its Manchester-based international payments operation. 24-Jul-2003 Lloyd's of London is planning to set up an onshore reinsurance office in China. 22-Jul-2003 Grant Thornton is closing its office in Warrington, and 14 of the 19 staff will move to its Liverpool office. 18-Jul-2003 Swiss Life is to close its UK life division to new individual business with the loss of about 200 jobs in Sevenoaks and Liverpool. 18-Jul-2003 Aviva has announced plans to shed 900 jobs in its Norwich Union insurance business, including 300 in Norwich, 280 in Cheadle, 60 in Perth, 40 in Worthing and the rest at other undisclosed offices. 16-Jul-2003 HSBC is to close its banking call centre in Southend by next April with the loss of 200 jobs. 16-Jul-2003 Hawkpoint has secured a £10m equity investment from Mezzanine Management to fund the expansion of its corporate advisory business. 16-Jul-2003 Abbey National is to relocate its Cater Allen private banking office from Romford to Sheffield and Bradford next spring, which will involve the creation or transfer of up to 215 new jobs. 11-Jul-2003 F&C Management is considering plans to outsource the administration of its £41bn pension fund business to Mellon of the US, which would involve the transfer of about 95 London-based staff. 11-Jul-2003 St Modwen is to let out the spare space at the former Goodyear offices in Wolverhampton to financial services company Promise Solutions, with the creation of 120 jobs. 09-Jul-2003 Norwich Union is to shed 50 senior management jobs, including 34 at its Norwich headquarters. 09-Jul-2003 Heath Lambert, the insurance broker valued at more than £350m, is said to have received a takeover approach from Marsh. 08-Jul-2003 Manchester Building Society has acquired the customer accounts of mortgage broker First Advice out of administration. 07-Jul-2003 Harvey Ingram Owston has acquired the Birmingham-based motor claims team from law firm Wragge & Co, and 16 staff will relocate to new offices in St Pauls Square later this month. 04-Jul-2003 Goshawk is to conduct a strategic review of its Lloyd's of London insurance business, which could lead to the company being sold. 04-Jul-2003 HSBC is to shed 1,400 administration jobs at offices in Canary Wharf, Southampton and Sheffield. 03-Jul-2003 Edinburgh Fund Managers, the asset management company valued at about £30m, has received a takeover approach. 03-Jul-2003 Corries Solicitors is to create up to 70 jobs in York, having won a £4m contract to handle claims for Advance Claims Management. 02-Jul-2003 Ecclesiastical Insurance is to close its intermediary services department in Gloucester with the loss of 65 jobs, but 30 jobs will be created at a new regional underwriting centre. 02-Jul-2003 Nationwide has outsourced the management of about 700 retail and office buildings to four agents - Gerald Eve in the South East, Colliers in the Midlands and North, Alder King in Wales and the South West and Eric Young in Scotland. 30-Jun-2003 Standard Life Investments is planning to outsource the administration of its fund management business to Citigroup of the US, which will involve the transfer of 90 staff. 27-Jun-2003 Abbey National has raised £500m from the sale of debt to GE's European leveraged finance division. 27-Jun-2003 Egg is looking to recruit 40 new staff at its internet banking business in Derby, and will open a new building at the Pride Park site over the next two months. 26-Jun-2003 HBOS is to invest in a new specialist motor insurance business being set up by the founder of Direct Line, in order to target high net worth and non-standard car drivers. 26-Jun-2003 Lloyds TSB is looking to sell its Brazilian banking operations, which have an estimated value of up to £400m. 25-Jun-2003 AMP of Australia is to close its NPI life insurance operation to new business, which will result in the loss of up to 900 jobs at offices in Tunbridge Wells, Peterborough and elsewhere. 24-Jun-2003 Liverpool Victoria is to close insurance offices in Exeter and Brentford with the loss of more than 200 jobs, in order to concentrate its business in Bournemouth. 20-Jun-2003 Chelsea Building Society has acquired a five-acre site on the Charlton Kings Industrial Estate in Cheltenham to accommodate 80 call centre staff and part of its IT operation. 20-Jun-2003 Abbey National is considering plans to outsource its call centre and administration operations to countries such as China and India. 19-Jun-2003 PricewaterhouseCoopers is to spend £10m on the amalgamation of its accountancy offices in Birmingham, which will involve withdrawing from its Temple Court site and accommodating 1,700 staff at Cornwall Court. 16-Jun-2003 Prudential has closed its French insurance business and any remaining work will be handled by its Dublin office. 16-Jun-2003 Berwin Leighton Paisner, the law firm, has awarded a £8m contract to Spectrum to fit out its office in central London. 13-Jun-2003 JP Morgan is to shed 70 of the 175 jobs at its foreign exchange operation in Bournemouth, in order to transfer work to India. 13-Jun-2003 The Inland Revenue is expected to create 170 new jobs at a call centre to be built by Landmark Development Projects next to Bradford Interchange, while 230 jobs will be relocated from its existing site nearby. 12-Jun-2003 Kiln, the Lloyd's insurance underwriter, is investing £16m in a new London-based specialist casualty insurance provider being set up by WR Berkley of the US. 12-Jun-2003 Davenham has acquired the £8m portfolio of Booker Montague Leasing, the Cheshire-based provider of asset-based lending products to small companies. 10-Jun-2003 De La Rue has announced plans to shed a further 300 jobs across Europe, following a decline in its cash systems business. 30-May-2003 Benfield is planning to raise £100m in a flotation in order to reduce debt and fund the expansion of its reinsurance business through a series of acquisitions. 29-May-2003 Lloyds TSB is considering plans to sell its New Zealand banking division for about £2.1bn. 29-May-2003 Lloyds TSB is to close a customer services centre in Gateshead with the loss of 150 jobs, in order to transfer the work to Chelmsford. 29-May-2003 Northern Rock is in advanced discussions to sell its credit card business to the Co-operative Bank. 29-May-2003 Lloyds TSB is to create 600 part-time jobs at its call centre in Newcastle-upon-Tyne over the next year. 23-May-2003 Allied Irish Banks is planning to open 20 new branches and create 200 jobs, in order to increase its presence in the UK small business banking sector. 22-May-2003 Gartmore is to shed 30 jobs in its fund management business, with the total headcount falling to 700 by the end of the year. 21-May-2003 The Funding Corporation is to expand the headquarters of its affinity finance business in Chester with the creation of 100 jobs, and is seeking staff with skills in telemarketing and financial services selling. 19-May-2003 Amvescap is restructuring its UK fund management business with the loss of 18 jobs, and its equity investment operation is being consolidated at its Henley office. 16-May-2003 Lincoln Financial Services is to close its pension review department in Gloucester, with the loss of 40 jobs. 14-May-2003 Eagle Star is recruiting 30 additional staff at its travel insurance office in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 13-May-2003 ING of the Netherlands is investing £25m in the development of a UK internet and telephone savings bank, with the creation of up to 400 jobs in Reading over the next three years. 13-May-2003 Abbey National is to close its First National Motor Finance subsidiary with the loss of 600 jobs in Redhill, Surrey. 09-May-2003 Abbey National has sold most of its £390m Australian project loan book to three banks for undisclosed terms, as part of a strategy to focus on its retail financial services business in the UK. 06-May-2003 SVB Holdings is planning to raise £75m in a share offer, in order to strengthen its reserves and underwrite new insurance business. 06-May-2003 Abbey National is asking 2,000 employees to reapply for their jobs, as part of a restructuring of its 743-strong branch network that will include the reintroduction of branch managers. 06-May-2003 Esure is to set up a new insurance call centre to Manchester city centre early next year, with the creation of 450 jobs over the next four years. 02-May-2003 AMP of Australia is to demerge its UK-based asset management and life assurance operations into a new group called Henderson. 02-May-2003 Abbey National is to close most of its international life assurance operations to new business having failed to find a buyer, and the move will affect Dublin-based Scottish Mutual International and Scottish Provident Ireland. 30-Apr-2003 Misys is planning to float its network of independent financial advisers in 2004, under the name of Sesame, and the proceeds will be used to acquire banking and healthcare software companies. 29-Apr-2003 Hugh James, the law firm, is to set up a new headquarters at Hodge House in the centre of Cardiff, and 150 staff will relocate there over the next month. 17-Apr-2003 EDS is expected to create about 250 jobs at its new Post Office bank accounts call centre in Preston over the next two years. 17-Apr-2003 Abbey National is to close a mortgage processing office in Didsbury and a specialist banking branch in Manchester city centre this year, with the loss of 291 jobs. 14-Apr-2003 Zurich Financial Services is looking to raise up to £350m from the sale of its Threadneedle fund management business. 14-Apr-2003 Skandia is to shed up to 125 of the 2,400 jobs at its life insurance business in Southampton. 11-Apr-2003 Abbey National is to shed about 720 of the 1,200 jobs in its London-based wholesale banking division over the next three years. 10-Apr-2003 University of Exeter has awarded a £3.2m contract to Interserve to build a centre for financial investment. 10-Apr-2003 London Stock Exchange has secured planning permission to redevelop its Old Broad Street headquarters, as part of its relocation to larger premises at Paternoster Square. 09-Apr-2003 Capita is to set up a 50,000 sq ft office at Lingfield Point in Darlington in August, with the relocation of up to 400 staff from Mowden Hall. 03-Apr-2003 The Department for Work & Pensions is to set up a Job Centre Plus call centre at the former ITV Digital site in Pembroke Dock in June, with the creation of 250 jobs. 01-Apr-2003 Bradford & Bingley has acquired a £470m mortgage portfolio from General Motors Acceptance Company for undisclosed terms. 01-Apr-2003 Barclaycard is seeking opportunities to expand its credit card business into east Asia. 01-Apr-2003 Royal & Sun Alliance is looking to raise up to £800m from the flotation of its Promina insurance subsidiary in Australia and New Zealand. 01-Apr-2003 Barclays is said to be in negotiations to acquire Banco Zaragozano, the Spanish retail bank which is capitalised at about £660m. 28-Mar-2003 Edinburgh Fund Managers is in talks to sell its private client operations, and is also considering plans to sell its Dundee-based administration business. 28-Mar-2003 Air Miles is planning to shed up to 88 part-time staff at its call centre in Crawley, in order to transfer more work to its site in Warrington. 28-Mar-2003 HomeLet Referencing is to create up to 90 new jobs at its credit reference business in Lincoln, following the transfer of some work from Glasgow. 28-Mar-2003 Quinn-Direct has announced plans to set up a £8m insurance call centre in Enniskillen, with the creation of 300 jobs. 27-Mar-2003 JP Morgan, the financial services company, is creating 150 jobs for software engineers at its European Technology Centre in Glasgow. 26-Mar-2003 Barclays is planning to recruit a further 60 staff at its Cardiff-based Firstplus financial services business, taking the total to 250. 21-Mar-2003 Principality Building Society has opened its first call centre in Cardiff with 20 staff, and a further 20 jobs will be created as the range of services is expanded. 21-Mar-2003 The British Bankers Association is to shed about 12 jobs from its 65-strong workforce as part of a restructuring programme. 20-Mar-2003 Charles Schwab is to sell its 50% stake in Scottish broker Aitken Campbell to TD Waterhouse, but will retain a UK presence by setting up a US dollar office in London later this year. 20-Mar-2003 Bank of America is to shed up to 100 jobs in London as part of a restructuring of its European equities operation. 20-Mar-2003 Moneybox is negotiating a deal to manage and maintain Bradford & Bingley's network of 70 cash machines. 18-Mar-2003 National Australia Bank is planning to develop a national franchise in UK retail banking from its four regional operations - Clydesdale, Yorkshire Bank, Northern Bank and National Irish. 18-Mar-2003 Churchill Insurance is said to have been put up for sale by parent company Credit Suisse, with a valuation of £1.5bn. 17-Mar-2003 The Department for Work & Pensions is seeking permission to set up a two-storey regional office in Corby by April 2004, with the creation of 200 jobs. 14-Mar-2003 WestLB is to restructure its investment banking operations with the estimated loss of 100 jobs in London, and the group will be divided into three divisions - Panmure UK in London, WestLB Equities in Germany and mergers and acquisitions. 13-Mar-2003 Bacs has set up a new ventures group to expand its automated clearing house into new areas, which could include a move into continental Europe. 07-Mar-2003 Lee Crowder is discussing the possibility of a merger with Cobbetts, in order to create a combined law firm with 90 partners and offices in Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. 05-Mar-2003 Britannic Assurance is to shed up to 150 of the 1,500 jobs at its Birmingham-based life insurance business. 05-Mar-2003 The National Assembly for Wales is to set up a regional office at the Rhydycar Business Park in Merthyr Tydfil, with the creation of 320 jobs. 05-Mar-2003 Helphire Group is investing £13m in a new 60,000 sq ft head office and call centre in Bath, which is due to open later this year. 04-Mar-2003 Aviva is to shed more than 100 jobs at its Norwich Union marketing and telesales operations in York, Norwich and Stevenage. 04-Mar-2003 MBNA, the credit card company, has won planning permission to almost double the size of its European headquarters at the Chester Business Park, creating up to 2,700 new jobs. 28-Feb-2003 Newcastle Building Society is to create 70 new jobs in its branch network and 50 at its new in-house financial services operation, and has also announced an 18-month refurbishment programme for its 50 branches. 28-Feb-2003 Royal Bank of Scotland has announced a £150m project to refurbish its chain of 1,650 NatWest branches, including new signage and some internal changes. 28-Feb-2003 Huntswood Outsourcing Solutions is to create 600 new jobs at its financial outsourcing business in Reading, by expanding its existing office in Market Place and setting up a customer service centre at Green Park. 27-Feb-2003 Provident Financial is to spend £7m piloting new credit cards over the next 18 months, and £6m expanding its international operations into Slovakia, Hungary and Mexico. 27-Feb-2003 Abbey National is looking to sell most of its wholesale banking operations, including the Porterbrook train leasing business and the Cater Allen offshore bank. 27-Feb-2003 Freeth Cartwright, the law firm, is considering plans to relocate three of its Nottingham offices in to one city centre site, and talks are taking place with Wilson Bowden Developments over a property at Cumberland Place. 26-Feb-2003 Francis Charsley, the insurance loss adjuster, has gone into voluntary liquidation with the loss of 91 jobs in Southend and Westcliff. 26-Feb-2003 Hallmark Corporate Services is opening a new call centre in Sunderland, in order to arrange discounts on utility and insurance bills for sports clubs and charities, with the creation of 40 jobs. 25-Feb-2003 Bank of Ireland is to merge its two independent financial advisory companies in the UK - Chase de Vere Investments and MX Financial Solutions - with the loss of up to 350 jobs. 25-Feb-2003 Old Mutual is considering plans to expand its financial services business in the UK through acquisition, in order to reduce its dependence on South Africa. 25-Feb-2003 ASA Creditsafe of Sweden is to expand its credit checking service at the Caerphilly Business Park, with the creation of 30 jobs. 24-Feb-2003 BPP Holdings has acquired the remaining 49% of MAR Group, which provides professional development services for lawyers under the name of BLS, for £5.4m. 20-Feb-2003 Rebus Human Resource Services is to shed up to 20 computer technician and manager posts from its 550-strong workforce in Peterborough in March. 19-Feb-2003 James Brearley & Sons is planning to shed an unspecified number of the 130 jobs in its eight stockbroking offices in the North West. 19-Feb-2003 Ofex, the share trading market, is planning to raise between £2m and £5m with a flotation on Aim, in order to fund expansion and provide working capital. 17-Feb-2003 Zurich Financial Services is said to be planning to set up a new Cardiff headquarters at the Fusion Point development, with the creation of 300 jobs. 14-Feb-2003 Royal & Sun Alliance has announced a £300m deal to outsource the administration of its closed life insurance operations to Unisys, which will involve the transfer of 1,700 staff in Liverpool and Horsham. 13-Feb-2003 Aviva is planning to open an insurance call centre in India with 1,000 staff, prompting speculation about the possibility of job losses in the UK. 12-Feb-2003 PricewaterhouseCoopers is to relocate more than 350 staff from Nottingham and Leicester to new offices at the Pegasus Business Park at Castle Donington next month. 11-Feb-2003 Cornhill Direct is to create 105 new jobs at its insurance call centres in Bristol this year. 10-Feb-2003 Royal Bank of Scotland is to close its Royal Bank Development Capital private equity business with the loss of up to 15 jobs, as part of a strategy to focus on larger deals. 10-Feb-2003 Jones Day is planning to expand into the UK legal market by acquiring Gouldens, which would give the US law firm 200 lawyers in London focusing on the mergers and acquisitions market. 07-Feb-2003 Standard Chartered is planning to open 23 bank branches in India this year, taking the total to 81. 05-Feb-2003 Teather & Greenwood is raising £2.9m in a rights issue, in order to strengthen its balance sheet and fund the expansion of its brokerage business. 05-Feb-2003 First Direct is to recruit 300 extra staff at its telephone banking call centre in Hamilton this year. 04-Feb-2003 BT is to set up a new corporate venturing business called NVP Brightstar, in partnership with Coller Capital and New Venture Partners. 04-Feb-2003 ING, the Dutch-owned bank, is said to be planning to set up a call centre at the Thames Valley Business Park in Reading, with the creation of hundreds of jobs. 31-Jan-2003 Dickinson Dees, the law firm, is recruiting up to 100 extra staff in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and its volume residential property division has moved to new offices at Eldon Court. 30-Jan-2003 Churchill Insurance is creating a further 85 jobs at its customer service centre in Thornaby, Teesside. 27-Jan-2003 HBOS is to shed 50 jobs at its Clerical Medical financial services business in Bristol, with sales and support services being hardest hit. 27-Jan-2003 The Mortgage Group is to create 200 jobs at new mortgage call centres in Droitwich and Crewe, while 300 extra staff will be recruited at its Cornwall site. 24-Jan-2003 Budget Group is recruiting 150 staff for a new insurance call centre at the Sunderland Enterprise Park. 24-Jan-2003 Misys, the financial services software company, is shedding about 350 jobs in its banking and securities division, although an extra 100 staff are being recruited at its development office in Bangalore, India. 24-Jan-2003 The Department for Work & Pensions is to create more than 2,000 jobs in the north-east, with almost half at the Tyneview Park Pension Centre. 23-Jan-2003 Barnetts, the Southport-based law firm that specialises in conveyancing, is planning to create 150 new jobs over the next few months and is due to move into new offices at the Southport Business Park by July. 20-Jan-2003 Barclays is planning to expand its Woolwich independent financial advisory division into continental Europe, to attract expatriate customers. 20-Jan-2003 Skipton Building Society has acquired a 75% stake in Pearson Jones, the Leeds-based independent financial advisor, for up to £9m. 20-Jan-2003 Travelex is seeking acquisitions to expand its foreign exchange business in North America and Asia, having raised £66m from the sale of its 49% stake in a joint venture with US-based MoneyGram. 20-Jan-2003 HBOS has offered £150m for the First National motor finance division of Abbey National. 20-Jan-2003 Bevan Ashford, the law firm, is planning to build a new office complex at the Exeter Business Park by summer 2004, providing space for up to 600 legal staff. 17-Jan-2003 ING of the Netherlands is to close its regional banking office in Liverpool with the loss of up to 30 jobs, although some staff will relocate to London or Edinburgh. 17-Jan-2003 Aberdeen Asset Management is raising £92m from the sale of the management rights to six unit trusts to New Star. 16-Jan-2003 Axa Insurance is creating 75 customer sales and claims handling jobs at its office in Ipswich. 15-Jan-2003 The Department for Work & Pensions is to create 356 jobs at a new pensions advice centre in Derby over the next five months. 14-Jan-2003 HBOS Card Services is to set up a new financial services office at Alexandra House in Cardiff Bay, with the creation of 200 jobs over the next three years. 10-Jan-2003 Axa Insurance has announced plans to create a further 60 new jobs at its call centre in Darlington. 09-Jan-2003 Aegon UK has acquired a 10% stake in Personal Touch Insurance, which has 42 offices and 100 Solihull-based support staff, for undisclosed terms. 02-Jan-2003 The information below comes from the UK Activity Report. Click here for further details Copyright UK Business Park 1995-2007