Friends First announces 147 job cuts

Life assurance company Friends First announced today that it will cut 147 jobs from its current workforce of 540 as it restructures its business.

The company says the cuts will help it to deal with the new challenges it faces and will ensure a long term, viable and profitable business. The majority of jobs will be lost as it closes its asset finance division, Friends First Finance.

This division has been hit badly by the global credit crunch and Friends First Finance says its business model of borrowing from the inter-bank market is no longer sustainable in the current climate. 98 jobs will be phased out as the business is wound up over the next five to seven years.

The company is also seeking another 49 people voluntary redundancies for this year and a new career break programme has also been introduced.

'The closure of Friends First Finance is a necessary decision because of the lack of availability of credit, at appropriate rates, combined with the downturn in the Irish economy', commented Adrian Hegarty, Group CEO at Friends First.

'These factors have undermined the business significantly. It is with deep regret that we've reached this decision as Friends First Finance was a successful business for the past 12 years, run by a dedicated and skilled workforce', he added.

Friends First is part of the Eureko group, which is one of the largest insurance groups in Europe with a total asset base of €92 billion and over 20,000 employees in 10 countries.

Friends First will continue to employ about 390 people at its headquarters in Dublin and regional offices in Cork and Galway.

UNITE, the union which represents workers at Friends First, says it is to hold urgent talks with management over today's announcement.

The union said it had been assured that the company would take part in meaningful consultation on the closure of Friends First Finance. The union said it wanted to look at ways in which the number of compulsory job losses could be minimised.