From the archive: Edinburgh spared the worst as RBS axe swings - 3 September, 2010

ROYAL Bank of Scotland has delivered another blow to the beleaguered financial services community by revealing 3,500 more jobs are to be slashed in its UK business –including several hundred in Scotland.

While the majority of the cuts will be in business services centres in England, about 1,000 posts are to go in the bank’s IT services division, which has a major hub in Edinburgh. However, RBS claimed the announcement would mean a net jobs gain for Scotland, as hundreds of the redundant roles are relocated north of the Border, where the bank plans to consolidate its back-office operations.

A further 500 back-office jobs will be moved overseas – to India, the Far East and the US.

Only seven days ago, RBS revealed it was to close two Glasgow offices belonging to its Direct Line insurance arm.