Ipswich: More than 50 jobs under threat at Axa

MORE than 50 people face redundancy after insurance company Axa announced job losses at its Ipswich base.

The global French-owned firm said that 27 of the 56 positions under threat are held by manager grade staff.

The announcement follows a decision last year to restructure the company after the separation of its commercial and personal lines.

More than 1,000 people work at the Ipswich site, including claims, sales and administration staff.

Axa, which also has offices in London, Birmingham and Manchester, said it had spent months looking at how best to serve customers under the new structure.

A spokesman for the firm added: “This has included looking at cost efficiencies within the business to enable us to compete in what is an increasingly tough market place.

“Unfortunately this has meant some redundancies but these have been kept to a minimum with only 66 roles lost across a personal lines headcount of 2,500. In addition to this 50 new roles have been created and we will look to redeploy staff wherever possible.”

But 56 staff in Axa’s Ipswich office now face the risk of being laid off, with 27 manager grade staff among those threatened with redundancy.

All staff who have been affected by the changes have been informed and will go through the relevant consultation process.

The employer said it has also been in consultation with trade union Unite and the Manager’s Forum throughout the restructure process.

A spokesman added: “Going forward we are confident that these changes will put AXA in a strong position to perform well in today’s competitive market.”