skandia merger to see 200 jobs shed

Around 200 jobs are to be lost in the transition of Skandia’s UK, international and European businesses under the Old Mutual Wealth brand, the group announced today.

skandia merger to see 200 jobs shed
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The roles will be removed in areas of overlap created by the merging of the three businesses and where “improvements in business processes reduce the need for manual work”, the group said.

Senior figures to go so far are Nick Dixon, marketing director and Andy Davies sales director (adviser sales) of Skandia UK.

Davies leaves after 19 years at the firm and will “explore opportunities outside the group”, while Dixon is to stay with the business until the end of February 2013 to ensure a smooth transition to Michelle Andrews who is taking over as marketing director of Old Mutual Wealth.

She has worked at Skandia for 15 years and will have responsibility of marketing across the UK, Europe and international markets.

Meanwhile, Steve Powell, another Skandia veteran with a 20-year tenure at the firm, has been given the role of sales director in the UK and is in charge of driving sales of both onshore and offshore products into the UK market.

Paul Feeney, chief executive of Old Mutual Wealth, said: “We have a clear vision which is to grow into the leading provider of wealth management solutions. To achieve this we need the right structure and cost base to support a successful wealth management business, which means changing our current systems and processes.

“We know this is a difficult time for our staff, so will make these changes as quickly as we can to give them clarity about the future and to ensure there will be minimal disruption for advisers and our customers.”

A consultation period of 90 days has now started and further comment on the restructure is not expected before its conclusion,

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