Royal Liver merger with Royal London costs 222 jobs

Royal Liver is to move out of its iconic Liverpool headquarters as part of its merger with rival Royal London, resulting in the loss of up to 222 jobs including 26 from Royal Liver's asset management business.

Customer services teams, finance and actuarial and IT support staff will also be part of the cull.

The move, subject to consultation, follows Royal London Group's takeover of the business in July.

Royal Liver's Liverpool operations are set to be integrated into Royal London's Wilmslow base. All asset management business will be brought together into one structure in London.

Royal London says 105 new roles will be created in Wilmslow, with a further seven in the asset management business in London. Liverpool-based employees will be able to apply for these roles on a "preferred candidate" basis.

Stephen Shone, group finance director at Royal London, said: "We are putting in place a comprehensive package of support for all employees who are affected by the proposed changes, and this will include the availability of specialist outplacement support.

"I very much hope that as many people as possible will take advantage of the opportunities arising from the creation of more than 100 new roles."

A 90 day collective consultation period has started today, with individual consultations beginning next week.

Royal London said integration plans have not yet been developed in detail, although it expects the majority of the work will be transferred by the end of 2011.