Barclays axes 1,700 jobs

Barclays has been accused of making a “colossal mistake” over plans to axe 1,700 jobs across its branch network.

Unite warned that customer service could suffer as result of the cuts.

The trade union said Barclays informed its workforce that it will be cutting 1,700 frontline roles – including cashiers, personal bankers, operational specialists, branch managers and assistant managers – throughout 2014.

Unite national officer Dominic Hook said: “It’s a colossal mistake for Barclays Bank to announce 1,700 job cuts across its bank branches.

“These employees deliver high levels of service that customers of the bank benefit from. Such a massive reduction will be very detrimental to the bank and will also be hugely challenging for the staff remaining.”

Barclays operates 21 branches in Scotland out of more than 1,500 across the UK, employing a total of 33,600 staff.