Ulster Bank to cut 250 jobs among NI-based staff

Up to 250 Ulster Bank staff who live in Northern Ireland but who work for the bank's Republic of Ireland operation are at risk of redundancy.

They are among about 800 staff at risk of losing their jobs across the firm as Ulster Bank continues to wind up its business in Ireland.

Its parent company, NatWest, announced plans to withdraw from the Irish market in 2021 and by last month it had shut its entire Irish branch network.

Ulster Bank NI sites are not affected.

Staff who work for Ulster Bank's operation in Northern Ireland are also unaffected by the latest round of redundancies, according to the firm.

Ulster Bank Chief Executive Jane Howard, said: "As we move into the later phases of our withdrawal, we announced earlier today [Wednesday] another redundancy programme for our colleagues.

"This programme will see colleagues leave the bank as their work ceases or significantly diminishes over the course of 2023 and 2024, and we expect there will be no further bank-wide redundancy programmes this year.

"Each redundancy programme announcement is a significant moment for our bank, with a personal impact for our colleagues and I reiterate my ongoing and sincere gratitude to colleagues for the dedication they have shown and for the important work and support that they continue to provide to our customers and each other."

Some of the 250 NI-based Republic of Ireland staff whose jobs are at risk work in Ulster Bank offices in Northern Ireland.

However, those premises will not close as a result of the job cuts.

The Financial Services Union (FSU), which represents the interests of bank workers across the island of Ireland, said it was a "difficult day for all Ulster Bank staff".

"All our experience, in terms of redundancies, is even when people anticipate an announcement, the finality of the actual announcement is what hits them the hardest," said FSU General Secretary John O'Connell.

"So it is a sad day for our colleagues in Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland and indeed in the Republic of Ireland."

The union had been expecting large scale redundancies, following on from NatWest's decision to pull out of the Irish banking sector.

The FSU has been supporting Ulster Bank staff during two-year winding up process and has been lobbying NatWest to redeploy those at risk of redundancy to other parts of its business.

Mr O'Connell said they hoped remote working would provide the solution in many cases.

"NatWest is a big operator, 60,000 staff," he told BBC News NI.

"So it has the potential to relocate functions into Northern Ireland that could save more jobs and, in fairness, there is evidence that they are making best efforts."

He explained that the FSU has a task force in place which has been working with NatWest on Ulster Bank redeployments.

So far, about 100 workers have been redeployed through that process and Mr O'Connell said it was proof of the success of the remote working model.

"We believe there is potential for more and we want to continue to work with NatWest over the next 12 months to save as many of those jobs as possible," he added.