GoCompare lays off staff in shock Christmas move
GoCompare has made “about 20” members of staff redundant just before Christmas.
The financial services comparison company has confirmed it has laid off employees from its marketing department due to a “repositioning” of the business.
The Newport-based firm, which has around 150 workers at its office at Imperial House, has confirmed that a number of staff have been let go.
One of the workers affected has claimed the announcement came “out of the blue”, saying as many as 22 or 23 people were facing job losses.
However, while the exact number of redundancies hasn’t been confirmed, a spokesman for GoCompare said: “The role reduction is less than 20.”
The worker, who has asked to remain anonymous, claims they had meetings booked on the day that staff were told about redundancies, and number of staff left the business on the same day.
They said: “As far as we all knew everything was fine, so redundancy was the last thing on all of our minds. The marketing department was almost cut in half.
“It was the most horrific day, people being called into the office, coming out crying.”
A spokesman for GoCompare, which was founded in 2006, said: “This reflects the repositioning of our business following the launch of our new automated energy switching service Weflip, and our acquisitions of Energylinx and MyVoucherCodes.
“We are, of course, always sad to see anyone leave the business, and it’s not a decision that’s taken lightly.”
The spokesman added: “GoCompare Group is committed to continued investment at its Newport headquarters.
“This includes our GoFurther programme, which last week saw five local school-leavers start our sponsored technology degree apprenticeship with Aston University.”
The sponsored degree programme, part of GoCompare’s ongoing multi-million-pound investment in its GoFurther Academy, will see each student work towards a BSc in digital and technology solutions with Aston University while also being employed at GoCompare.