There will be job losses in Mayo as a result of the announcement this week that FBD Insurance plc is to reduce its offices by 13, but the numbers are as yet unknown.
The move will see the merger of the Ballina office with Castlebar with a reduction in staff numbers to be sought through a voluntary severance programme. FBD has declined to reveal how many jobs need to be cut, preferring to let the voluntary severance programme they have initiated take its course. The company has also declined to outline the number of staff currently working in its two Mayo offices.
The company has said is will be looking for those job cuts in “as short a time frame as possible” and it intends to enter a consultative process with staff and representative bodies immediately.
The slashing of offices is the outcome of a detailed review undertaken by the company in recent months. The review was initiated as a result of substantial changes in the way customers are buying insurance with over 70 per cent of car and home insurance customers now using the telephone or internet.
The company is to realign its local office network, reducing the number from 47 to 34, by merging the activities of certain offices including the two in Mayo.
Despite the cuts, the company say once changes are implemented, FBD will continue to have the largest local office network of any insurer around the country. The focus of local offices will be selling to and servicing the needs of farming and commercial customers. Personal lines customers, primarily motor and home insurance, will be serviced by its support centre in Mullingar.
Andrew Langford, Chief Executive Officer of FBD, said: “FBD has grown market share in each of the last seven years and is now the third largest insurer in Ireland with policy counts doubling in the same period. FBD continues to perform solidly in difficult market conditions. We are committed to meeting the changing needs of customers. Changing customer behaviour means they are now less likely to visit our local offices and we are providing them with the channels they now wish to use.
“At the same time, we are committed to re-organising our infrastructure and processes in a way that frees up our local staff to focus on serving and growing our farming and commercial business. By redirecting most of the telephone calls to our support centre in Mullingar and centralising administration, staff in local offices will have extra capacity for these core functions.”
Mr Langford confirmed the merger of the Mayo offices in Castlebar: “The Ballina office will merge with Castlebar. We aim to achieve the resultant reduction in staff numbers through a voluntary severance programme and in as short a time frame as possible. We will enter a consultative process with staff and representative bodies immediately. These necessary changes will underpin the strength of the company.”
