Member Article

Help package for redundant Northern Rock staff

A package of specialist help was available to staff leaving Northern Rock for the final time last week.

Around 1,300 Northern Rock staff are leaving the company as part of the bank’s restructuring plans. Last Friday was the final day at work for the majority of employees being made redundant.

A response group set up to help employees find new work and access new opportunities is reiterating the assistance available to them.

A job search website exclusive to Northern Rock staff has been created as part of the support programme to ensure employees are aware of job vacancies within the North East. The website contains hundreds of vacancies in the region, many with firms who have specifically expressed an interest in employing Northern Rock staff.

A jobs fair for redundant Northern Rock staff will take place on Thursday September 18 at Gosforth Civic Hall with plans for a similar event in Sunderland on Thursday September 25 at the Regus Centre, Doxford Business Park, Sunderland.

Already, more than a dozen companies have confirmed they will be recruiting at the Gosforth event.

Alan Clarke, One NorthEast Chief Executive and Chairman of the Northern Rock Response Group, said: “Today is a sad and emotional day for many Northern Rock employees. We have worked alongside Northern Rock to put in place a comprehensive outplacement support package to assist those affected by redundancy.

“The response group remains convinced through the reaction of regional firms and the number and quality of job vacancies in the region, that there is a bright future in the North East for the redundant employees.”

Around 4,000 people will remain at Northern Rock as the business moves forward.

For more information about the jobs fairs or to advertise vacancies on the job search website, please contact Sarah Wilkinson, Employer Engagement Consultant at Jobcentre Plus on 0191 203 8512 or email sarah.wilkinson@dwp.gsi.gov.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .