Richard Branson's Virgin has warned that job losses are likely at Northern Rock if it wins control of the troubled British bank.
The BBC reported that as many as 1,000 posts could be cut from the estimated 6,250-strong workforce as Virgin bosses work to repay around £24 billion in British government loans within three years.
The Virgin bid for Northern Rock is one of two being considered by the Treasury after they were submitted on Monday. The other is a proposal from an in-house management team at the bank.
Virgin Money boss Jayne-Anne Ghadia, who would run the bank in the event of a Virgin rescue being accepted, told BBC radio she could not rule out redundancies. But a Virgin spokesman indicated that any job losses would be 'less than' 1,000, and the group would make as many reductions as possible by not replacing staff that leave.
