Jobs are at risk at Plymouth’s Moneycentre amid what appears to be a major shake-up from parent company Cigna Insurance.
According to a report in
The Plymouth Herald, staff were informed that redundancies could be made due to trading conditions – with hundreds of jobs potentially on the line.
This was followed by a
BBC report earlier today, which stated that 420 staff at the major call centre have been told that the whole business “could cease trading”. The report claims “a consultation is beginning” and options include “a possible sell-off to another insurance firm”.
Speaking to
The Plymouth Herald, a spokesperson for the company stated: “We can confirm that Cigna Insurance Services (CIS), a provider of consumer Travel, Legal Expenses and Budget Health insurance services in the UK, is exploring options on how to take the business forward following a strategic business review.
“Action is necessary due to the impact of trading in an increasingly competitive travel market, which is also a market that has shrunk by more than 10% over the last few years.
“CIS is committed to working with elected representatives of CIS employees to consider all potential options for the CIS business.
“We are about to start a full consultation process with our employees and employee representatives. We are exploring a number of options in this review and will confirm the outcome of the consultation process with our employees in due course. Until this point, it is business as usual.
“No decisions about the business will be made until the full consultation process is complete with our employees and employee representatives. The final outcome is expected early next year.”
The
BBC later reported on a document issued to staff, which outlined the following options:
1) The turnaround of the CIS business, and whilst we continue to review this option it is highly unlikely to be a realistic option given the scale of the challenges facing the business
2) Disposal of the CIS business. This is the sale of the business to an alternative provider
3) Run the business off - i.e. gradually reduce our operations with the end result that the business will eventually stop trading. The timescales of this option would depend on the obligations we owe to our partners and customers.
We will bring you more on this story as it becomes available.
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