 Standard Life is the biggest mutual insurance company in Europe |
The Edinburgh-based insurer, Standard Life, has announced deep cuts in its direct sales force. About 90 jobs are to go in Edinburgh as part of a plan to lose 360 sales team staff across the UK.
The cutbacks have come less than a week after the company revealed generous bonuses for its senior executives.
The direct sales operation at the giant mutual company had employed a total of 700 people. The company said the move was part of an efficiency drive.
Standard Life is currently undertaking a strategic review of its business.
Bonuses cut
Further cuts in its 12,000-strong global workforce could form part of the resulting plan for the company, as could a change in its ownership structure.
Standard Life is currently owned jointly by more than two million of its customers.
They experienced a series of cuts in the bonuses paid on their policies, as the company coped with declining investment values and tighter requirements imposed on it by the Financial Services Authority.
One option would be for Standard Life to abandon its mutual status, with a listing on the stock market in which members would lose their control of the company.
Despite the difficult times of recent years, senior figures in the company have continued to receive large bonuses.
New chief executive Sandy Crombie earned more than �600,000 last year, an increase of 15.9% on the year before, of which bonuses made up �135,000.
One-Minute World News 
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