Speaking after today’s announcement that HBOS and Equitable life are to make around 600 Aylesbury people redundant over the next 18 months, Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate Steven Lambert said “this is a devastating blow to the dedicated staff of these firms and to the Town. Many of the staff have worked at the site for several years and today they and their families will be fearing for the future.
This announcement will create more fears and uncertainty for Aylesbury and will have a massive knock on effect to the local economy. It’s yet another example bought home of the devastating effect of Labour’s mishandling of the crisis in the banking industry and the direct knock on effect local people and the local economy.”
Noting that the plans will see about 150 staff remaining at the site from 2011, Steven added “with HOBOS being an Edinburgh based company, the local links and history have been severed. I doubt there will be enough people at the site to sustain HBOS using the ‘blue leany’ and this could inevitably, see the site close altogether creating further fears for the remaining staff.”

After speaking to concerned staff after the announcement, Steven said “It seems that there is an agreement with HBOS staff for no compulsory redundancies, but that is not the case for Equitable Life staff. I hope that HBOS management will afford the same agreements and processes to all staff going through this and will offer real help to those affected to find new roles regardless of which company they work for.”