900 jobs are to go in Quinn Insurance offices around the country. The job cuts will be made on a voluntary basis and it is expected the cuts will happen over a 12 to 15 month period.
The single biggest job losses will be in company's largest office, Blanchardstown in Dublin which currently has a staff of around 800. Around 301 jobs will go there. 65 will go in the first phase which will take place over the next two to three months. Another four jobs will go from the company's O'Connell Street offices in the city.
Quinn Insurance's head office in Cavan will lose around 226 jobs out of 700 with 121 going in the first phase. In Enniskillen, 179 jobs will be cut with 87 going in the first phase. 27 jobs are expected to go in Derrylin, with nine in the first phase.
Navan will be particularly badly hit with around half the workforce being axed - 109 out of a total of 220 jobs will be lost with 37 will go in the first phase. In Manchester, 48 out of the 100 jobs will go.
Administrators Paul McCann and Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton said that they 'deeply regretted' that a major restructuring of operations was necessary to safeguard the future of the company and more than 1,500 jobs.
They said the exact number of employees that will be impacted over the next 12 months will depend on how much business Quinn can secure. But they added that the company's customers - both current and new - will have a direct impact on the employment levels within the business.
They said that they will continue to talk with the Financial Regulator in order to allow profitable business lines in Britain to be reopened. But certain loss-making lines of business will cease, they added.
The redundancy terms to be offered to staff will include four weeks pay per year of service on top of the usual statutory entitlements.
'The restructuring process has taken into consideration a business plan which, we are confident, is realistic in the context of what it known and expected about conditions in our markets,' the administrators said.
They said that Quinn Insurance is a significant operator in the insurance market and will continue to employ over 1,500 following completion of the restructuring process.
'The steps being taken today, although regrettable and painful for the employees of the company and their families, are necessary to ensure the long term security of these positions,' the added.
The steps announced today are expected to save Quinn Insurance €30m a year.
Quinn Group decides to sell insurance arm
The Quinn Group says it has 'reluctantly' decided that it should sell its Quinn Insurance business.
A Quinn Group statement said that, in view of the funds needed to meet the requirements laid down by the Financial Regulator, the future of Quinn Insurance was probably best protected under new ownership.
'Accordingly we will be working closely with the joint administrators to see if this objective can be achieved in as short a time as possible with the hope that this will protect the maximum number of jobs,' the statement said.
The administrators said today have said they have received more than 40 expressions of interest from outside parties in buying Quinn Insurance.
They say the contacts were made without being asked for and no discussions on them had yet begun.
The administators say Quinn Insurance should be sold as a going concern as its value in its business model, its people and its claim management system.
Meanwhile, a personal statement from Sean Quinn said that he and his family are 'devastated' with news of today's redundancies.
'I would like to sincerely express my appreciation of the huge effort that staff have made in making Quinn Insurance the great success that it has been and I greatly regret what has happened in recent weeks,' the statement from Mr Quinn said.
'I would also like to personally thank all the staff and the very loyal customer base who have shown their overwhelming support as well as the thousands of people across the Country who have shown their support in various ways,' he added.
Quinn Group says insurance arm has 'outperformed'
Kevin Lunny, operations director of the Quinn Group, said the company's insurance business had outperformed the market every year since 2005 in terms of profitability.
He said: 'We expected to be at least in line, if not ahead of, competitors for 2009.'
'The insurance business is expected to make a loss for 2009 in the UK market in line with competitors,' he added.
The regulator has argued that unprofitability in the UK business has been one of the reasons why Quinn Insurance has been restricted from doing business in that market.
