Skandia’s commitment to a future in Southampton
27 June 2006:
On 20 June, Old Mutual announced their strategy for the worldwide Skandia Group of which Skandia UK forms part. That strategy encompassed proposed business synergies including job losses of between 500 – 600 over the next 3 years. Skandia UK has around 1,400 employees in Southampton, divided between its main head office sites located in the city centre, as well as 400 employees in the Isle of Man and 220 in other parts of the UK.
Nick Poyntz-Wright, Chief Executive Officer of the Skandia UK Group, commented, “Although the bulk of the job losses will come from our Southampton offices, both Skandia and our new parent, Old Mutual, are fully committed to keeping Skandia UK’s headquarters in Southampton. Reshaping the business now will help to secure the future success of the company in a competitive market, and produce growth which will give more opportunities for more people in the Southampton area in the future."
Mr. Poyntz-Wright, added, “Our business has been extremely successful since inception in 1979, becoming one of the fastest growing companies in the market. However, to preserve and build on this success, we need to upgrade our IT systems, reduce our unit costs and position ourselves for future growth in an increasingly competitive market”.
It is expected that the majority of the job losses will come from the Southampton offices and that a proportion of them will disappear through ‘natural’ turnover. Mr. Poyntz-Wright commented on the job losses, “I appreciate that this is a very difficult time for those whose jobs will be at risk and do not underestimate the impact this will have on them and their families. My key focus is to ensure that we put an end to any uncertainty as soon as possible and to ensure we provide as much help and advice as necessary for those whose jobs will disappear”.
Skandia currently has some surplus office space in Southampton and these changes will have implications for the amount of office space required in future. A review of overall space requirements will be undertaken which may result in sub-letting some of the existing office space. No decision has yet been made in terms of the location and amount of space which may become available; this will follow on from the detailed planning which will take place in the next few months.
For further information please contact:
Contact: Alex Jones, Skandia Public Relations
Email: [alex.jones@skandia.co.uk]
Mobile : 07834 499534
