Job Loss Fears Mount ahead of Zurich’s Expected Takeover of Insurance Giant

The impending takeover of RSA, the Liverpool insurance group, by rival firm Zurich has raised the spectre of job losses.

RSA employs around 1,500 staff at its Old Hall Street and Tithebarn Street offices in the city. Last week it agreed to extend a stock exchange deadline to allow Zurich to inspect its books ahead of an anticipated £5.6 billion approach which many feel is now just a formality. However, a combination of the two groups is likely to result in redundancies throughout their UK networks.

RSA operates out of 13 cities, including Liverpool, employing more than 7,000 staff, a similar number to that working in Zurich’s 16 UK offices.

Worldwide, employee numbers rise to 14,000 for RSA and 55,000 with Zurich.

Should the takeover go ahead it is feared it could lead to thousands of job losses in a bid to avoid duplication across all operations.

Both groups’ London head offices are believed to be most at risk to redundancies, which are expected to fall equally on either side.

One Sunday newspaper quotes a former RSA executive, who declined to be identified, as saying: “It is all over bar the shouting and it is a sad end to 300 years of history.

“It is clear that cost savings in the UK are going to be a big feature of this deal, which means job losses,” Echo news reported.

And Barry Cornes, an analyst at stockbroker Panmure Gordon, warned cuts are unavoidable: “We would anticipate that if a deal were to go through it would inevitably lead to a reduction in the number of jobs, particularly in the UK.”