Lloyds axes 420 personal finance jobs

Lloyds Banking Group has announced it is to close Black Horse Personal Finance with the loss of 420 jobs.

The move brings the total number of jobs cuts in the group to more than 22,500 in the past two years since it took over HBOS in 2008.

Black Horse Personal Finance will cease operating in February next year having already closed its high street presence earlier this year. Its main centres of operation are in Edinburgh and Cardiff.

The Black Horse Motor Finance division will remain open for business and the bank said existing Black Horse Personal and Retail Finance customers will be unaffected.

David Oldfield, chief operating officer, wholesale at Lloyds Banking Group, said: "The announcement to cease writing new business in the group's Black Horse Personal Finance operation follows a strategic review of the business.

"We will work closely with the impacted employees to help them through these changes."

Lloyds said the strategic review would affect 840 jobs, mainly within the wholesale division, but redeployment within the group would reduce the number of job losses to 420.

However, Unite said it was "appalled" at the decision and called on Lloyd's new chief executive, Antonio Horta Osorio, to prioritise job security when he joins the group in early 2011.