Shock as RBS axes 500 jobs in Harrogate
STUNNED staff at Harrogate's Royal Bank of Scotland base have been told that their jobs have been axed.
More than 500 jobs are to go in Harrogate as part of a country-wide cull by the bank to shrink its support and IT operations.
The Cardale Park office, one of the biggest employers in the town, is to close in the next two years, RBS chiefs announced yesterday.
Nationally, 3,500 jobs are to be cut, and Harrogate is to be one of the hardest hit.
The cuts were met with anger from union Unite which branded them a "horror story" just weeks after the bank announced half-year profits of 1.1bn.
Roles to go include jobs in property, accounting, payments, IT and call centres.
Last night Unite national officer Rob MacGregor said: "The scale of the cuts announced today beggars belief and staff across the country will be left reeling.
"It will be an especially bitter pill for staff to swallow as RBS has decided to move some of the jobs abroad to the Far East, India and America."
RBS's Harrogate office at Central House in Otley Road will close with the loss of 509 jobs. A total of 109 jobs will go next year, the rest in 2012.
Some Harrogate jobs are expected to transfer to a venture capital consortium which bought most of RBS's Global Merchant Services business last month, but the bank does not know how many.
Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones said: "Its loss would be a significant blow to our local economy and to its employees and their families."
Have you been affected by the cuts? Call the Harrogate Advertiser on 01423 707509 or email ackrill.news@ypn.co.uk
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Weather for Harrogate
Thursday 17 May 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 6 C to 11 C
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