James Charles
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HSBC has announced plans to close 100 high street branches of its sub-prime division Beneficial Finance, putting 450 jobs at risk.
Britain’s biggest bank blamed the deteriation in the economy for the decision, which will also see the remaining 25 branches closing to new business.
It said the sub-prime division which includes Beneficial Finance, known as HFC, had become unprofitable since the economic downturn took hold and the number of borrowers defaulting on loans started to climb.
Around 1,200 are employed in the HFC division. HSBC said it was working with employees at risk of redundancies to try and secure work elsewhere.
A spokeswoman for the bank said: "This action is not taken lightly but in response to an economic environment that has deteriorated severely in recent months. All affected employees will receive outplacement counselling and redundancy terms, if needed, significantly exceed the minimum legal requirements."
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