Lloyds to cut an extra 800 jobs

Britain's Lloyds Banking Group plans to cut around 800 jobs following changes to its life, pensions and investments operations…

Britain's Lloyds Banking Group plans to cut around 800 jobs following changes to its life, pensions and investments operations after the bank lost an administration contract with insurer Equitable Life.

Lloyds said some of the jobs were included in plans for 5,000 job cuts announced earlier this month -- as the bank overhauls its operations and integrates rival HBOS, bought earlier this year -- but did not detail numbers.

Lloyds has already announced some 9,000 permanent job cuts since January.

The bank said today that Equitable Life, a closed life insurer, would not be renewing a 10-year administration contract with the bank when that ends in March 2011, after signing a new contract with HCL Technologies.

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The deal will transfer 340 Lloyds jobs currently in Aylesbury, south east England, to HCL. Around 100 are set to remain in the area.

As part of the end of that contract, Lloyds said it had reviewed its presence in the town and would be relocating, with 570 job losses by the end of 2011.

Lloyds said "most" of those losses were announced as part of a plan to slash 5,000 jobs, announced earlier this month. The bank did not give further details.

Accord, one of three unions representing Lloyds employees, said the cuts were a "body blow for the workforce".

Reuters