Standard Life to axe 95 jobs in Scotland

INSURANCE giant Standard Life yesterday announced it will cut 95 customer service jobs in Edinburgh and Glasgow as it rushes to make the £100 million in cost savings it has promised investors by the end of the year.

The latest job losses are over and above the 500 cuts announced by chief executive David Nish in September 2010.

The firm is also understood to be working on plans to outsource parts of its IT department.

Following the departure of group information and operations director Christian Torkington in September, Standard Life’s head of transformation, Sandy Begbie, took control of the IT department.

A Standard Life spokeswoman confirmed it was looking at “various options” regarding its IT operations and said she “can’t rule out” further jobs cuts by the end of the year.

At its half-year results announcement last week, the firm said it was “on track” to meet its cost-cutting target, estimating that it had £30m to go to make its savings plan complete by the start of 2012.

The Edinburgh-headquartered company announced its cost-cutting drive in March last year, targeting £100m of savings, which would in turn fund a £200m investment in its global business this year, following the same amount in 2010.

Regarding its latest job cuts, a Standard Life spokesperson said: “In January 2011 the structure of our customer service division was reviewed which has led to greater levels of resource sharing.

“This increased efficiency means can offer the same high levels of service to our customers, with a reduced number of people.

“We will now enter a period of consultation with our staff association on the proposed changes which will last a minimum of 30 days.”