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Lloyds Banking Group
29/04/2009
Today's announcement by Lloyds that staff and products within the merged pension and investment branch will be branded as Scottish Widows underlines the company's confidence in and commitment to Scotland, John Swinney said today.
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth expressed disappointment at the 50 redundancies planned for Scotland as part of a total of 300 job losses across the UK.
He was speaking following Lloyds' announcement that as part of the reorganisation of Lloyds Banking Group, the pensions and investment arms of Scottish Widows and Clerical and Medical would be merged.
Mr Swinney said:
"While any redundancies are disappointing, particularly in these current economic times, overall, today's news is positive for Scotland. Lloyds has assured me everything possible will be done to avoid compulsory redundancies and any staff losing their jobs will receive help and support.
"The Scottish Government's primary concern throughout the merger of HBOS and Lloyds has been to promote and protect Scottish interests - including retaining jobs and HQ functions in Scotland, minimising job losses and sustaining Scotland's expertise and reliability in financial services.
"Therefore, today's announcement has aspects of encouragement for the Scottish financial services sector. It was based on clear market research which demonstrated public confidence and trust in the Scottish Widows brand identity. This indicates that the underlying strength of Scotland's reputation in financial services is much more powerful than recent setbacks. I therefore welcome the decision to act on the market research which reflects positively on the Scottish Widows group, and all this iconic brand represents."