Barclays to axe 1,200 back-office jobs

Barclays is to axe 1,200 back-office and call centre jobs as part of a major shake-up aimed at turning around the fortunes of its UK retail banking business.

Most of the job losses will come from the migration of the Woolwich's IT systems onto Barclay's upgraded operating platform, which is due to be completed by the end of next year. Barclays bought the Woolwich for £5.9bn in 2000.

The rationalisation of back-office and call centre operations will lead to the closure of sites in Clacton and Dudley at the end of 2007, and Bexleyheath in mid-2008.

The changes, which will also see 200 high street branches axed, are part of a wide-ranging overhaul of Barclays' UK retail business led by its CEO Deanna Oppenheimer, who was brought in from the US to revive the consumer banking unit's fortunes last August.

Barclays said trade union Amicus has been consulted on the plans to close the three back-office sites and said it will minimise compulsory job losses with retraining and redeployment wherever possible.

A Barclays statement said: "With careful management of staff turnover and active steps to redeploy it is expected that the number of employees made redundant will be significantly fewer than this."