Corporate staff face axe in Capital as RBS sheds jobs

The part-nationalised bank is cutting a total of 272 staff from its corporate banking division across the UK, including in Edinburgh.

RBS said it was too early to say how the redundancies would be spread, but sources suggested at least ten per cent of an estimated 120 jobs in the corporate banking division in Edinburgh would go, with other posts transferred to Glasgow.

The news was broken to the affected staff, who are based at the St Andrew Square offices, on Wednesday, but was not made public. RBS, which is 83 per cent owned by the taxpayer, announced on Thursday a separate move to shed 3500 jobs from its investment banking arm over the next three years.

Most of those posts will be in London and the Far East, with a limited number of back-office jobs in Edinburgh expected to be lost.

A source said the redundancies in the corporate banking division were not unexpected. It is understood they include a cut of ten per cent in the real estate finance department, which deals with loans to clients investing in commercial property. It is also understood the real estate finance posts which remain will be transferred to Glasgow.

An insider said another team which was in charge of “exotic” deals was being scrapped altogether. The redundancies will also affect staff involved in lending to small and medium-sized businesses.

The insider said some senior staff were “delighted” to have the chance to leave, but younger staff in more junior posts faced a bleak future, competing with colleagues for the posts which remained.

RBS said the redundancies were being achieved through improved efficiency throughout the UK, and would not be concentrated in any one location.

An RBS spokesman said: “We will do all we can to support our staff, offer redeployment opportunities wherever possible and keep compulsory redundancies to a minimum.”