Wednesday, November 16, 2016
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INSIDE MARKS & SPENCER
Store rejects closure claim as being ‘pure speculation’. Page 5
TREE OF HOPE
Rusthall choir sings heart out for children’s charity. Page 14
LEST WE FORGET: Around 2,000 turned out on Sunday to make it a day to remember when they gathered round the town’s War Memorial to pay their respects to all those who have given their lives to protect us. Mayor David Neve praised the ‘fantastically supportive community’ noting the size of the crowd increases each year. Full story page 4
AXA to axe motor claims jobs
SPORTING TIMES
West Kent curling team ready for Euro challenge. Pages 86-87
Insurer will relocate work elsewhere but insists most staff are safe Adam Hignett
adam@timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk THE largest private employer in Tunbridge Wells is planning to relocate up to 150 jobs to Birmingham in what will be one of the biggest mass lay-offs the town has experienced for several years. AXA has confirmed it will be reviewing its motor claims operations at Century Place which is situated off Lamberts Road, near North Farm. Consultation with its employees is underway, as the insurer seeks to reduce staff turnover by relocating many of the roles to Birmingham, where it has a similar motor division and where the employ-
ment pool is both deeper and wages are more competitive. If all of the planned redundancies go ahead, it will mean just over half of the 296 employees in the Century Place office will be lost. However, the company is keen to stress other divisions, such as AXA PPP – which makes up the majority of the firm’s business in the town – are not affected. A spokesman for the insurer said: “AXA Insurance is consulting with the union on behalf of its employees’ located in the Tunbridge Wells (Century Place) office on a proposal to consolidate all direct motor customer operations teams in its existing operation in Birmingham. “There is a large, existing and well established motor claims operation in
Birmingham and it is proposed that consolidating these teams in one site will ensure that AXA is able to deliver a more consistent service to its customers.
Move said to be ‘purely an operational decision’ “If adopted, this change would impact around 150 employees. It would not affect the other teams based in the same office nor employees of AXA’s healthcare business in Tunbridge Wells.” The Times understands the insurer has been suffering from a high turnover of staff in its motor claims division and struggles to fill vacancies.
The high turnover is said to be particularly acute among handlers who deal with the more basic claims. It is thought these are the types of roles that will be moved to Birmingham where there is a bigger recruitment pool and the lower cost of living means the pay is more competitive. Positions at Century Place that primarily deal with the more complex cases are not believed to be the focus of the consultation as retention levels are much higher. MP Greg Clark, who was informed of the decision by AXA, said it was his understanding that the insurer’s proposal to consolidate all of its direct motor customer team in Birmingham is ‘purely an operational decision’.
BRAD AND ANGELINA Read about ‘civilised divorce’ in Law and Life News. See inside