U K
The information below comes from the
UK Activity Report.
Abbey is to close two offices in Newport and Taunton next year with the loss of 226 jobs, in order to transfer small business administration work to a new centre in Glasgow. 27-Dec-2004
Abbey National is planning to shed up to 500 IT jobs in Milton Keynes next year, and about 100 jobs are expected to be outsourced to Isban. 22-Dec-2004
Lovells, the London-based law firm, is to shed 25 of the 260 equity partners in its international network of offices. 21-Dec-2004
ABN Amro of the Netherlands is to shed 250 of the 3,000 jobs in its London-based corporate and investment banking operation. 20-Dec-2004
Clapham & Collinge, the law firm, is to relocate its 30 Norwich-based staff to a new office at St Catherine's House in All Saints Green next June. 15-Dec-2004
West Sussex County Council is to shed 300 jobs over the next three years, and hopes to make the cuts through natural wastage and redeployment. 13-Dec-2004
American Express is considering plans to relocate 300 staff from Brighton to Burgess Hill, following an approach from an unnamed company to buy Napier House. 13-Dec-2004
Co-operative Insurance Society is to shed 350 jobs at its Manchester head office and 170 jobs at seven claims offices across the country, but 270 new jobs will be created at a new call centre to replace its sales and service division. 10-Dec-2004
Principality Building Society is to create 160 new jobs in Cardiff over the next year, in order to create a new finance business following its acquisition of Loan Link. 09-Dec-2004
Credit Suisse is to restructure its investment banking operations over the next two years, casting doubt over the future of some of its 6,000-strong London workforce. 08-Dec-2004
International Acceptance, the Sunderland-based consumer finance company, is planning to create 70 jobs over the next 18 months in order to expand its personal loans business across Europe. 03-Dec-2004
JP Morgan of the US is planning to shed about 5% of the 6,000 jobs at its investment banking operations in Europe. 30-Nov-2004
Yes Loans & Mortgages of Cardiff is planning to expand its workforce from 35 to more than 100 over the next three years. 29-Nov-2004
Franklin Templeton, the US investment manager, is to set up a 22,500 sq ft London headquarters on John Adam Street, WC2. 29-Nov-2004
Standard Life is to shed a further 100 insurance sales jobs across the country. 26-Nov-2004
Norwich Union is to create 200 jobs at its call centre in Perth, in order to service customers who have bought insurance policies through Asda. 26-Nov-2004
Bridgewell, the stockbroker with 70 staff, is to raise £4m in a share placing to fund the expansion of its research and corporate broking teams. 25-Nov-2004
Euronext is to shed 80 of the 500 jobs at its London-based derivatives exchange. 25-Nov-2004
Huntswood Outsourcing is to create up to 355 jobs at a new financial services operation at the Strathclyde Business Park near Glasgow. 24-Nov-2004
Insurety Insurance is to open an office for 12 staff in Londonderry, in order to co-ordinate the work of 30 representatives across Northern Ireland. 23-Nov-2004
Your Move is planning to expand its chain of 240 estate agency branches with a further 50 in 2005, and is also expanding its financial advice, conveyancing and insurance operations. 23-Nov-2004
Easybroker is planning to raise £4m in a flotation on Aim to fund the expansion of a system that enables institutions to carry out cross-border trading. 22-Nov-2004
Co-operative Insurance Society is to close its nationwide network of 106 offices next year, with the loss of 900 jobs, in order to centralise its operations in Manchester. 17-Nov-2004
Norwich Union has announced plans to relocate more than 1,000 staff from a number of sites in Norwich to two new office blocks on the Broadland Business Park in 2006. 17-Nov-2004
Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, the US investment bank, is setting up a £11m office in London to offer research on European financial stocks. 15-Nov-2004
Marketsafe is to create 92 jobs at a new office in Bridgend over the next three years, in order to provide a pan-European service of credit information and other business services. 15-Nov-2004
Oldham Council is planning to shed up to 250 jobs through natural wastage, early retirement, redeployment and voluntary redundancies. 12-Nov-2004
MyMortgageDirect has chosen a site in Brighton for its first regional call centre, and 30 jobs will be created when it opens in January. 12-Nov-2004
Swindon Borough Council is to shed 100 jobs from its 8,000-strong workforce. 11-Nov-2004
Lloyds TSB has announced plans to transfer up to 1,000 jobs to India by the end of next year, affecting staff in its insurance division, IT and group operations. 10-Nov-2004
Clydesdale Bank is planning to relocate 200 Glasgow-based staff to a new 36,000 sq ft office at Central Exchange by May 2005. 08-Nov-2004
Cox Insurance, the motor insurance company valued at more than £200m, has received a number of takeover approaches. 08-Nov-2004
Commerzbank Securities of Germany is considering plans to shed up to 200 jobs at its investment banking operations in London. 04-Nov-2004
Bradford & Bingley is forming a joint venture with Legal & General to offer investment and protection plans, which will involve the transfer of 200 branch-based B&B staff to L&G. 02-Nov-2004
Ashfords, the law firm, is planning to expand the 250-strong workforce at its Exeter office with 100 additional staff, following its demerger from Bevan Ashford. 02-Nov-2004
Ernst & Young is looking to recruit a further 40 staff to add to the existing 460 at its accountancy office in Birmingham. 01-Nov-2004
Enterprise Ulster is to shed 50 jobs across Northern Ireland, following a £1m cut in grant aid from the Department of Employment & Learning. 25-Oct-2004
Lawrence Graham, the law firm, is to set up a 125,000 sq ft office on the More London estate in SE1 in 2007. 25-Oct-2004
Jelf Group has raised £2.5m in a share placing to fund the acquisition of healthcare and insurance intermediaries. 22-Oct-2004
Hargreaves Lansdown, the financial services group, is seeking a larger site in the Bristol area in preparation for the planned doubling of its 400-strong workforce by 2008. 20-Oct-2004
Arbuthnot Securities, the stockbroker, is closing its Birmingham office, and a number of staff will be offered relocation to London. 18-Oct-2004
Experian expects to create about 100 new jobs at its Nottingham-based financial information business over the next 12 months, and may decide to expand its Landmark House building. 18-Oct-2004
Scott Tod has secured a £10m banking facility from Lloyds TSB to fund the expansion of its cash-in-transit business. 15-Oct-2004
National Australia Bank is to consider selling its operations on both sides of the Irish border, including Northern Bank and National Irish Bank. 15-Oct-2004
The Northern Ireland Office is to shed up to 2,300 civil service jobs and redeploy a further 3,500, as part of the government's spending plans for the next three years. 13-Oct-2004
Royal & Sun Alliance has announced plans to transfer a further 1,100 jobs to India over the next two years. 12-Oct-2004
TSYS Europe is to create 30 new jobs at its credit, debit and retail card transactions business in York by the end of the year. 11-Oct-2004
Cazenove, the investment bank, has agreed to sell a 50% stake to JP Morgan of the US for £100m, and about 50 JP Morgan staff would transfer to the joint venture. 11-Oct-2004
HSBC is planning to recruit 130 business bankers next year, as part of a £1.4bn five-year investment that has seen the creation of 214 commercial centres in its branches. 11-Oct-2004
Axa Insurance has announced plans for the £10m refurbishment of its Suffolk House office in Ipswich by the end of next year, in order to house some of the staff currently based in satellite offices around the town. 05-Oct-2004
MGM Assurance is planning to shed about 10% of the 235 staff at its life and pensions office in Worthing. 04-Oct-2004
Permira is looking to sell Hogg Robinson's employee benefits consultancy for about £150m, including three businesses called Entegria, Paymaster and Claybrook. 04-Oct-2004
ING Direct is planning to set up a banking call centre in Cardiff, with the creation of 300 jobs. 01-Oct-2004
HHG is to close its London Life insurance office in Bristol next year, with the loss of 100 jobs, in order to transfer the work to its site in Peterborough. 01-Oct-2004
McKeags, the law firm, is to recruit 50 additional staff in Newcastle, taking the total to more than 300 by next summer. 29-Sep-2004
Barclays Commercial Services is to close its office in Reigate next month, with the loss of up to 60 jobs. 24-Sep-2004
Customs & Excise is to relocate about 80 staff from its Elmbridge Court office in Gloucester to other regional offices this autumn, while the search continues for a permanent site in Gloucester. 23-Sep-2004
Norwich Union is to transfer 950 administration jobs to India and Sri Lanka during 2005, which is expected to involve 70 compulsory redundancies in Norwich and 60 in York. 23-Sep-2004
Pinsents is in merger discussions with Mason, which could lead to the creation of a combined law firm with 1,700 staff and more than 250 partners. 22-Sep-2004
RAC is to buy out Axa's stake in their financial services joint venture for up to £40m. 20-Sep-2004
Cox Insurance is to quit the premium finance and broker guaranteeing markets and sell its Brokersure division, in order to focus on underwriting and insurance broking. 20-Sep-2004
Tesco is to introduce foreign exchange bureaux into its larger stores, and is also considering plans to move into the mortgage lending market in partnership with Royal Bank of Scotland. 20-Sep-2004
The Department for Work & Pensions is to close 37 social security offices and job centres across the country. 17-Sep-2004
Scottish Life is to close its Melville Street office in Edinburgh with the loss of almost 30 jobs, while a further 35 jobs will be lost at its office on the Isle of Man. 14-Sep-2004
The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants is in merger discussions with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy. 14-Sep-2004
Eversheds, the law firm, is considering plans to relocate from its 90,000 sq ft Queen Victoria Street headquarters in London to an office of at least 120,000 sq ft. 13-Sep-2004
F&C Management and Isis Asset Management are to shed about 200 jobs following their recent merger, and the London head office of Isis will relocate to F&C's headquarters in Liverpool Street. 13-Sep-2004
Axa is to shed 53 jobs at insurance offices in Ipswich, Bristol and Tunbridge Wells, in order to transfer work to India. 10-Sep-2004
Bradford & Bingley has selected Countrywide Assured as preferred bidder for its estate agency and chartered surveying operations. 09-Sep-2004
Clydesdale Bank is to expand its network of small business banking centres into a further 40 locations in the south of England, and will also set up a new flagship financial solutions complex in Glasgow and refurbish its head office. 08-Sep-2004
Standard Life is planning to close its 17,000 sq ft Tanfield office in Edinburgh, in order to relocate 1,000 staff to other sites nearby. 06-Sep-2004
St James's Place, the financial services company, is to set up a new 55,000 sq ft headquarters in Cirencester, in order to relocate from six existing sites nearby. 06-Sep-2004
First Data Europe is to shed 80 jobs at its credit card processing office in Basildon. 01-Sep-2004
Bank of New York is said to be considering plans to relocate some of its back-office functions and hundreds of jobs from London to Manchester. 30-Aug-2004
The Inland Revenue and Bradford Council are to open a joint call centre in Bradford later this year, with the creation of up to 200 jobs. 27-Aug-2004
CPP Group is to create 200 new jobs at its consumer assistance services centre in York. 26-Aug-2004
Moneysupermarket.com, the financial services company, is to invest £1.2m in a second office at St David's Park, Ewloe, with the creation of 200 jobs. 26-Aug-2004
Sumitomo Mitsui, the Japanese bank, is looking to set up a new 70,000 sq ft headquarters in London, and a number of potential sites are being considered. 23-Aug-2004
Franklin Templeton, the investment management firm, is to relocate to a 57,000 sq ft office at Morrison Street in Edinburgh. 23-Aug-2004
National Savings is to transfer some of its administration work, which is contracted out to Siemens, to India, but no jobs are said to be at risk at its Premium Bonds headquarters in Blackpool. 18-Aug-2004
Watson Burton, the Newcastle-based law firm, is planning to open an office in Leeds in early 2005, in order to offer corporate legal services. 17-Aug-2004
Freedom Finance is creating 30 jobs at a new mortgage and loans centre in Norwich. 16-Aug-2004
Capita Group is to start recruiting 200 new staff for a call centre in Gloucester, in order to operate the government's new Child Trust Fund. 16-Aug-2004
Aviva is planning to reorganise its long-term life and pensions business by merging ten subsidiaries into four, in order to cut costs and simplify its corporate structure. 16-Aug-2004
Switch TM is to create 100 new jobs at its financial services telemarketing call centre in Salford Quays. 12-Aug-2004
Barclays is looking to expand its international banking business, and is particularly interested in Spain, the Middle East and Africa. 12-Aug-2004
Bcwgroup has set up a new £5m credit management and outsourcing call centre in Rutherglen, and 200 new jobs will be created over the next eight months. 10-Aug-2004
Marsh is planning to close an insurance office in London's Docklands next year, and up to 600 staff could be relocated to Norwich, Witham or its London head office. 02-Aug-2004
Royal Bank of Scotland is considering plans to outsource the management of its 3,000 properties, including high street bank branches. 02-Aug-2004
HBOS is to rebrand 700 Halifax bank branches by adding the Bank of Scotland name, in order to highlight its business services. 29-Jul-2004
PayPoint, the payment collection company, is planning to float with a valuation of more than £120m. 26-Jul-2004
Cattles has secured a £500m credit facility to support the expansion of its financial services business. 20-Jul-2004
Barclays is to shed 250 administration jobs at its Barclaycard division in Northampton. 20-Jul-2004
National Assembly for Wales has provided a regional selective assistance grant to a new consumer credit company called Picture Financial, which will set up a headquarters for 70 staff at the Celtic Lakes Business Park in Newport. 15-Jul-2004
National Assembly for Wales is considering plans to take control of the Welsh Development Agency, Wales Tourist Board and training organisation Elwa by April 2006, which could involve the transfer of up to 1,500 jobs. 15-Jul-2004
Co-operative Insurance is to shed up to 2,500 jobs over the next two years, as part of a modernisation programme. 15-Jul-2004
Egg, the internet bank, is to close its French division at a cost of about £113m, having failed to find a buyer. 14-Jul-2004
Budget is to create 250 new jobs at its insurance call centre in Bretton, Peterborough, over the next two years. 13-Jul-2004
Scottish Widows is planning to exit from a number of non-core areas, such as long-term care insurance products, following a review of its operations. 12-Jul-2004
Begbies Traynor, the insolvency specialist, is planning to raise £12m in a flotation on Aim, and the proceeds will be used for acquisitions, recruitment and working capital. 12-Jul-2004
Bank of Ireland is considering various options for the future of its Chase de Vere independent financial advice business in the UK, which could lead to a sale. 12-Jul-2004
Dynamic Commercial Financial, the invoice discounting company, has rejected a £4.2m takeover approach from Enterprise London. 08-Jul-2004
Yes Loans & Mortgages is planning to relocate its Cardiff office to the Neptune Court development in Cardiff Bay and increase its current workforce from 23 to 100 over the next three years. 08-Jul-2004
Ernst & Young is to relocate its Inverness office and about 50 staff to the Stoneyfield Business Park this autumn. 07-Jul-2004
Mortgageforce is to set up a new headquarters in Derby for its Wow Mortgages & Loans joint venture with Mortgages PLC, with the creation of up to 20 jobs. 07-Jul-2004
HSBC is considering plans to refurbish about 400 bank branches, in order to improve service and streamline its product range. 05-Jul-2004
F&C Management is to undergo a reverse takeover by Isis Asset Management, creating the UK's fourth largest asset management group with a valuation of £1.2bn. 05-Jul-2004
KPMG is considering plans to take a 130,000 sq ft office at the £300m Masshouse scheme in Birmingham, although it may decide to refurbish its existing office in Cornwall Street instead. 05-Jul-2004
Ulster Bank has announced a three-year restructuring and investment programme that will involve the creation of 150 jobs in Belfast and an equal number of redundancies at other locations. 02-Jul-2004
The Department for Work & Pensions is planning to close pension centres in York, Liverpool, Derby, Norwich, Nottingham, Wolverhampton, Stockton, Wrexham, Burnley and Plymouth, as well as 500 benefit offices. 01-Jul-2004
Auto Indemnity is to close its recently-acquired Colegate vehicle hire, accident and assistance business in Diss, with the loss of 96 jobs, in order to integrate the business with its Blackpool-based operation. 30-Jun-2004
Bradford & Bingley has announced plans to shed a further 450 management and administration jobs. 28-Jun-2004
GE Capital is to set up a new 50,000 sq ft London headquarters at Berkeley Square. 21-Jun-2004
Hitachi Capital is planning to make acquisitions to expand its finance and leasing business over the next few years. 21-Jun-2004
Royal & Sun Alliance is in negotiations to sell its closed life business to Resolution Life Group for about £900m. 21-Jun-2004
HSBC is to shed up to 3,500 head office and support jobs, but 1,000 additional staff will be recruited for its bank branch network. 18-Jun-2004
Cabot Financial is to open a debt collection call centre in Bradford in July, and the initial 40-strong workforce will eventually increase to 250. 17-Jun-2004
Budget Group is to create a further 150 jobs at its Junction call centre in Sunderland, having won a contract to provide customer support to Post Office car insurance customers. 17-Jun-2004
Alliance & Leicester is to close 46 of its 300 bank branches with the loss of about 300 jobs, in order to cut costs and encourage customers to use the internet and telephone. 17-Jun-2004
Invest NI is supporting plans from Ocwen Financial Corporation of the US to set up a £4.7m data and technical support centre in Belfast, with the creation of 12 jobs. 16-Jun-2004
CitiFinancial has acquired an additional 26,0000 sq ft of office space at the Doxford International Business Park in Sunderland, in order to expand its financial services operation and create 300 new jobs. 16-Jun-2004
HammondsDirect, the bulk conveyancing company, is to set up an office in Sheffield this summer, with the creation of up to 40 jobs. 14-Jun-2004
PA Consulting, the management consultancy with 3,000 staff in 35 countries, has received a takeover approach from Science Applications International Corporation of the US. 14-Jun-2004
Invaro has ceased trading with the loss of about 65 jobs at insurance offices in Liverpool, Manchester, London and Wales. 11-Jun-2004
Heath Lambert is to shed 25 jobs at its insurance office in Swindon, in order to transfer some of its risk processing work to London. 11-Jun-2004
Garbutt & Elliott is to relocate its York-based chartered accountancy business and 80 staff to the outskirts of the city next month. 11-Jun-2004
Aviva is to shed 700 jobs at its Norwich Union life insurance offices in Norwich, York, Stevenage, Bristol and Croydon, and is looking to outsource half of its business services operation. 10-Jun-2004
Royal London, the mutual life assurer, is to close its direct sales operation with the loss of 380 jobs. 10-Jun-2004
Martineau Johnson, the law firm with about 260 staff, is to relocate its Birmingham office to One Colmore Square in September. 09-Jun-2004
Watson Burton, the Newcastle-based law firm, is planning to create a further 50 jobs by the end of the year. 08-Jun-2004
Egg is creating a further 80 jobs at its internet banking business in Derby this summer. 07-Jun-2004
Barclays is to recruit 1,000 additional branch staff, in order to improve customer service, but 800 middle management and support jobs will be lost. 07-Jun-2004
Libertas Capital, the financial services company, is planning to raise £6m in a flotation on Aim. 07-Jun-2004
Barclays has appointed JLL to review its global portfolio of 4,000 properties, which could result in an outsourcing or sale and leaseback arrangement. 07-Jun-2004
Axa has announced plans to shed a further 80 jobs at its insurance operation in Lytham, in order to transfer work to India. 01-Jun-2004
Norwich Union is to invest £90m in the refurbishment of its Norwich offices over the next four years, including the creation of a new site on the Broadland Business Park. 01-Jun-2004
SJ Berwin, the law firm, is to set up a 185,000 sq ft headquarters at Queen Street Place in London EC4 in September 2005. 31-May-2004
Thomson Financial is considering plans to consolidate its staff into a 300,000 sq ft office at Aldgate Union in London. 31-May-2004
Towry Law, the financial advisory group, is to close its international operations in Tokyo, Dubai and Bahrain with the loss of up to 40 jobs. 31-May-2004
Homeserve, the home insurance repairer, is to create 100 new jobs at its call centre in Walsall over the next 12 months, while a further 400 jobs are being created at a new 24-hour facility in Preston. 27-May-2004
Barnetts, the Southport-based law firm, is to create a further 100 jobs to cover evening shifts in its conveyancing department. 26-May-2004
Cox Insurance has agreed to outsource its IT systems to CGI Group, in order to save £3.8m a year. 24-May-2004
KTSOwensThomas, the Cardiff-based accountancy firm with 75 staff, is relocating its headquarters to an 8,000 sq ft office at the Celtic Gateway development in Cardiff Bay. 20-May-2004
Abbey National is said to be planning to transfer billing and call centre operations to India with the loss of 400 jobs in Southampton and 100 jobs in Stockton-on-Tees. 18-May-2004
Financial Telemarketing Services is planning to create up to 200 jobs at a new call centre, and potential sites are being considered in the Hull area. 18-May-2004
Cardpoint is planning to acquire 800 cash machines from HBOS for about £45m, taking its total to more than 2,800. 18-May-2004
Barclays Capital is said to be planning to recruit up to 3,000 staff over the next three years, in order to expand its debt and advisory operations in the US and Europe. 17-May-2004
Old Mutual is seeking acquisitions to expand its financial services business in the UK, and is particularly interested in a life or asset management company. 17-May-2004
Burges Salmon, the law firm with 530 staff, is seeking a new 150,000 sq ft headquarters in Bristol. 17-May-2004
Towergate, the insurance underwriting group, has secured a £85m financing package from three banks, which will help fund acquisitions and the doubling of its turnover during the next two years. 12-May-2004
TML (The Mortgage Lender) is to relocate 260 staff from Eastleigh to a larger office at the Solent Business Park near Fareham in July, and more than 200 new jobs will be created. 05-May-2004
Pavilion Insurance is planning to raise £1.1m in a flotation on Aim, in order to fund acquisitions and develop new insurance products. 03-May-2004
Royal Bank of Scotland has confirmed that its new £350m headquarters on the outskirts of Edinburgh will be ready for use next summer. 03-May-2004
Royal & Sun Alliance is to close a claims centre and a customer accounts centre in Leeds, with the loss of 180 jobs. 29-Apr-2004
Lloyds TSB is to close a support centre in Bournemouth with the loss of 200 jobs, as part of a reorganisation of its asset finance business. 29-Apr-2004
Giles Insurance, the Irvine-based broker with 300 staff at 18 offices, is planning a £50m management buy-out later this year. 28-Apr-2004
The Northern Ireland Department of Finance & Personnel is to acquire 156,000 sq ft of office space at the James House scheme in Belfast this year, in order to relocate staff from Victoria Square. 26-Apr-2004
Admiral, the motor insurance group with about 1,500 staff, is planning a £600m flotation this autumn, and has also announced plans to create 50 more jobs in Cardiff and Swansea. 26-Apr-2004
Millfield is to raise £3.6m in a share placing to finance its independent financial advisory business. 22-Apr-2004
Experian, the credit checking company, is to close three call centres in Preston, Bolton and Widnes over the next two years, with the loss of 850 jobs. 21-Apr-2004
Ultimate Finance, the Cheadle-based factoring and invoice discounting company, is to raise £0.5m in a share placing to fund the expansion of its sales force. 19-Apr-2004
Budget Group is to create 50 jobs at its call centre in Sunderland, after its Junction division won a contract to provide motor insurance services to MBNA. 19-Apr-2004
Myhomemove Conveyancing is planning to create 100 new jobs at its property conveyancing business in Leicestershire over the next year. 19-Apr-2004
Churchill Insurance is to set up a personal loans business at Tannochside near Glasgow, with the creation of 100 jobs. 15-Apr-2004
Dealogic, the London-based financial data provider with 300 staff, is planning to float on Aim in May with a valuation of about £180m. 15-Apr-2004
Close Brothers is looking to invest £100m of its new private equity fund in Scottish companies, in order to benefit from 3i's decision to scale back its Glasgow-based operation. 14-Apr-2004
Legal & General is planning to relocate its London-based head office by 2007, and is considering sites of up to 180,000 sq ft at Basinghall Avenue and Aldermanbury Square. 13-Apr-2004
Groupama is considering plans to close an insurance claims centre in Birmingham with the loss of 150 jobs, in order to consolidate the work at its Port Solent site near Portsmouth. 09-Apr-2004
Amity Direct is planning to create 40 jobs at its new mortgage offices in Edinburgh, Cardiff and London. 09-Apr-2004
Mortgage Code Compliance Board is to close its office in Stafford in October with the loss of 30 jobs, as part of a government plan to transfer the work to the Financial Services Authority in London. 06-Apr-2004
Cartel is to create 100 new jobs at its Manchester-based mortgage broking business. 06-Apr-2004
Smith & Williamson, the financial services company, is seeking a 80,000 sq ft office in London, and five sites are under consideration. 05-Apr-2004
Norton Rose, the law firm, is planning to relocate its headquarters from Bishopsgate to a 300,000 sq ft office at the More London scheme by early 2007. 05-Apr-2004
London Stock Exchange is to sell the Stock Exchange Tower site to Hammerson for £67m, in preparation for its move to Paternoster Square in June. 05-Apr-2004
Corries Solicitors is relocating more than 200 York-based staff from four offices to a 37,000 sq ft site in Hospital Fields Road this month. 05-Apr-2004
Royal Bank of Scotland is to create 1,000 jobs at NatWest branches across the country, as part of a £150m refurbishment programme. 02-Apr-2004
American Life is planning to create 120 jobs in Northern Ireland and 200 in Scotland, as part of a 2,000-strong nationwide insurance sales force. 01-Apr-2004
Capita Group has won a £430m contract to manage Child Trust Funds, which will involve the transfer of 100 jobs from The Children's Mutual and the creation of 100 new jobs in Gloucester. 01-Apr-2004
Standard Life has announced plans to abandon its mutual status and shed a further 1,000 jobs, with the Edinburgh headquarters being hardest hit. 01-Apr-2004
Dickson Minto, the law firm, is to close its Glasgow office at the end of April and five lawyers will transfer to Edinburgh and London. 31-Mar-2004
Zurich Financial Services has announced plans to shed up to 450 jobs at administration centres in Swindon and Cheltenham. 30-Mar-2004
Interlink Premier Network, the Cardiff-based compliance network for independent financial advisers, has ceased trading and Swansea-based Stones & Co has been appointed liquidator. 29-Mar-2004
Unisys is to shed 400 of the 1,500 jobs at its insurance outsourcing operations in Liverpool, Bournemouth and Horsham. 29-Mar-2004
KBC Peel Hunt, the corporate adviser and stockbroker, is setting up an office in Birmingham in May, employing five brokers and two commercial lenders. 26-Mar-2004
Cheltenham & Gloucester is to create 50 administrative jobs in India, prompting speculation about the future of some of its 1,900 head office jobs in Barnwood. 25-Mar-2004
Money Centre is opening a new buy-to-let mortgage office in Sheffield, and hopes to expand the workforce from 12 to 36 over the next 18 months. 23-Mar-2004
Drivers is to relocate its York-based legal practice and 12 staff to a three-storey building at Bootham. 23-Mar-2004
Independent Mortgage Bureau is to expand the workforce at its Leicester head office from 20 to 30, while ten jobs will be created at new offices in Edinburgh and Belfast. 22-Mar-2004
Sovereign Reversions is planning to raise £16m in a share placing on Aim to fund the development of its business providing equity release to home owners. 22-Mar-2004
Broker Network is planning to raise £4m in a flotation on Aim to help fund the acquisition of 90 small insurance brokers over the next five years. 22-Mar-2004
The Department for Work & Pensions, the Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise are to shed 40,000 jobs over the next four years, and the government expects other Whitehall departments to make similar cuts. 18-Mar-2004
Invaro, the legal expense insurer, is to relocate up to 250 staff to a new headquarters at Liverpool's Princes Dock in May. 17-Mar-2004
Cox Insurance has made a £81m takeover approach for Highway Insurance, both companies being based in Brentwood. 16-Mar-2004
Langleys, the Lincoln-based solicitor with 180 staff, is to relocate to a new building on Doddington Road by the end of the year. 15-Mar-2004
Smart & Cook has secured £57m of venture capital to fund the expansion of its insurance broking and financial services business, which currently employs 340 staff at 13 offices. 12-Mar-2004
Willis Group, the insurance broker, is to relocate about 1,400 staff to a new 420,000 sq ft office building on London's Lime Street in 2007. 10-Mar-2004
Compass Finance, the financial broker, is to float on Aim with a valuation of £32m, following a reverse takeover by cash shell Sound Growth. 09-Mar-2004
Standard Life is to shed about 360 jobs from its direct sales insurance operation, including 90 at its Edinburgh head office, and ten branches will close. 05-Mar-2004
Catlin is planning to raise £119m in a share offer to fund the expansion of its Lloyd's of London insurance business. 04-Mar-2004
One Account is expanding its mortgage lending business by opening a new office in Norwich and recruiting 150 extra staff. 03-Mar-2004
American Express is said to be looking into the possibility of transferring call centre work from West Sussex to India, which could affect up to 340 jobs at its finance centre in Burgess Hill. 02-Mar-2004
Advantage West Midlands has selected ShareMark to provide the platform for the launch of a £3.2m Local Business Exchange, which will enable shares to be traded in local companies from this autumn. 01-Mar-2004
Standard Chartered is seeking a suitable location for a new headquarters in London, in order to consolidate its six existing sites. 01-Mar-2004
Bank of New York is looking to set up a new office in Manchester, and is seeking a site larger than 100,000 sq ft. 01-Mar-2004
Zurich Financial Services is considering plans to outsource its IT operations, which could lead to the loss of some of its 700 IT staff in Swindon. 27-Feb-2004
Jardine Lloyd Thompson is looking to expand its insurance broking business by acquiring more companies overseas, and is particularly interested in the US and Heath Lambert's operations in Latin America. 24-Feb-2004
Procurecard has raised £3m from Pi Capital to fund the expansion of its business that helps small companies secure discounts on the purchase of goods and services. 23-Feb-2004
Irwin Mitchell, the law firm, is planning to expand its Newcastle office this year with the creation of up to 60 jobs. 19-Feb-2004
David McLean has won a £15m contract to refurbish 19 bank branches on Merseyside for Royal Bank of Scotland and Nat West. 18-Feb-2004
Park Group is to close its Consus financial services call centre in Birkenhead with the loss of 40 jobs. 17-Feb-2004
Capita has won a £125m contract to manage a compensation fund for the personal injury claims of miners, which will involve the transfer of more than 1,250 staff from Aon. 17-Feb-2004
Doncaster Council is to consider plans from Lazarus Properties to build a new five-storey town centre headquarters for Earth Finance, which would create 200 jobs. 13-Feb-2004
Michelmores, the Exeter-based law firm, is to relocate its 150-strong workforce to a new office at Woodwater Park in Pynes Hill by the end of the year. 11-Feb-2004
Cazenove, the stockbroker, is considering plans to launch a private banking service for wealthy clients. 09-Feb-2004
Hill House Hammond, the Bristol-based insurance intermediary with 230 branches, is to close with the loss of 1,200 jobs, while a further 400 staff will be redeployed by parent company Norwich Union. 06-Feb-2004
Co-operative Financial Services is to create 500 jobs at call centres in Manchester, Stockport and Skelmersdale this year. 05-Feb-2004
Spring Group has won a £100m three-year contract to recruit and supply staff to a leading bank, thought to be Royal Bank of Scotland. 05-Feb-2004
Department of Trade & Industry is planning to set up a £8m Consumer Direct call centre in Camborne, with the creation of 57 jobs. 02-Feb-2004
Alliance & Leicester is recruiting 100 additional staff at call centres in Leicester and Narborough. 02-Feb-2004
Derbyshire Building Society is to shed 25 of the 344 jobs at its head office in Duffield. 02-Feb-2004
HSBC is said to be planning to recruit 300 equity analysts over the next three years, as part of a strategy to expand its brokerage operations. 02-Feb-2004
Scottish Equitable is to replace its network of 28 independent financial advice branches with 17 enlarged sales centres over the next five months, with the loss of 200 jobs. 30-Jan-2004
First Trust is to shed 43 senior jobs at its clearing bank operations in Northern Ireland. 30-Jan-2004
HSBC is to close its investment funds administration office in Sheffield with the loss of 182 jobs, and transfer the work to its stockbroker services division in Leamington Spa. 30-Jan-2004
Admiral is to create 100 new jobs at its motor insurance operations in Cardiff and Swansea. 29-Jan-2004
Herbert Smith, the law firm, is in negotiations to set up a 50,000 sq ft office at Exchange Square in London. 26-Jan-2004
Lloyds TSB is to shed 90 jobs at its general insurance operations in Newport and Bournemouth. 23-Jan-2004
Mercer Human Resource Consulting is to close its pensions administration operation at Witham in Essex in May with the loss of up to 100 jobs. 22-Jan-2004
Electra Partners Europe is in negotiations to sell Premium Credit, the Epsom-based finance company with 300 staff, to MBNA of the US for about £180m. 22-Jan-2004
Legal & General is to create 50 new jobs in Cardiff in order to sell Sainsbury's-branded life insurance policies. 21-Jan-2004
Berkeley Berry Birch is in merger discussions with Inter-Alliance Group, which could lead to the creation of the UK's largest network of independent financial advisers. 21-Jan-2004
Skipton Building Society's Homeloan Management division is to open a call centre in Londonderry later this year, with the creation of at least 240 jobs, in order to process mortgage applications. 19-Jan-2004
Scottish Friendly is said to be considering plans to close its £350m in-house fund management operation in Glasgow, in order to outsource the work to London. 19-Jan-2004
Lloyds TSB has appointed property consultant BH2 to find a 300,000 sq ft office in the City of London, in order to consolidate a number of smaller offices. 19-Jan-2004
GE Capital is said to be seeking a 250,000 sq ft office in the Thames Valley, in order to consolidate a number of existing sites by 2006. 19-Jan-2004
Abbey National is to close offices in Derby and Warrington with the loss of 400 jobs, while £25m will be invested in IT, training and sites in Belfast, Bradford, Glasgow, Milton Keynes and Sheffield. 15-Jan-2004
Abacus Financial Services is to shed 35 jobs in Jersey and Guernsey, in order to streamline its corporate services and private client trustee units. 15-Jan-2004
Prudential is in talks to sell its 79% stake in Egg, the online bank, in order to raise about £1bn for acquisitions. 15-Jan-2004
Axa is to shed 700 jobs in its insurance operations across the country, including 200 at call centres in Morecambe and Darlington, in order to transfer more work to India. 15-Jan-2004
Abbey National is planning to close its Scottish Provident life insurance office in Edinburgh, and some of the 900 staff will relocate to Glasgow. 14-Jan-2004
Nationwide is to open a call centre in Sheffield this year with the creation of up to 180 jobs, and sites in Swindon and Northampton will be refurbished. 13-Jan-2004
Abbey National has sold its 41 private equity funds to Coller Capital for undisclosed terms. 12-Jan-2004
Abbey National has confirmed that a review is being undertaken of its Glasgow-based fund management division, which could lead to its closure with the loss of 170 jobs. 09-Jan-2004
Loans.co.uk is to recruit about 200 staff from Norwich Union offices in Preston and Watford, which will lessen the impact of Norwich Union's plans to transfer jobs to India. 07-Jan-2004
Sainsbury is planning to install 70 more banking areas in its stores this year, with the creation of about 100 jobs, following a trial in 30 stores. 05-Jan-2004
Hiscox is planning to set up an insurance claims centre in a 20,000sq ft building in Colchester, with the creation of 20 jobs. 01-Jan-2004
The information below comes from the
UK Activity Report.
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