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http://in.news.yahoo.com/040129/137/2b79t.html

Thursday January 29, 10:36 PM

HSBC bank to shut UK service centre, cut 182 jobs

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's biggest bank, HSBC Holdings Plc, said on
Thursday it would shut a service centre in Sheffield, north England,
and cut 182 jobs to reduce costs.

The bank will move the centre's administrative work for its investment
funds business to nearby Leamington Spa by the end of the year, a
spokesman said. HSBC already has a centre at Leamington Spa to support
its stockbroking operation.

HSBC has been clamping down on costs in Britain. The bank said in July
it would axe 1,400 head office and regional UK jobs, including a
separate 150 in Sheffield. In September, it announced the transfer of
4,000 British jobs to India.

If Sheffield workers want to work in Leamington Spa, they are
guaranteed a job, the spokesman said. Otherwise, HSBC will try to find
new employment for staff at the bank or provide career advice for
those who leave.

"This is devastating news for the staff and their families," said Paul
Bridge, a negotiator for finance trade union Unifi, in a statement.
"It's also a double blow for Sheffield as HSBC has already earmarked
its processing centre for closure."

HSBC is not ruling out compulsory redundancies.