Insurer Direct Line to cut 800 UK jobs

Insurance giant Direct Line is to axe around 800 jobs across its UK business as the company alters its operations to deal with more online customers.

The cuts by the company, which also owns the Churchill and Green Flag brands, will affect almost 7% of its 11,000 workforce.

Last year, chief executive Penny James told investors that the business would need to cut costs by around £60 million, according to Sky News reports.

A Direct Line Group spokeswoman said: “Like many companies we are having to prepare for changes in the way we operate, reflecting changing customer behaviour where people are increasingly opting to interact with us digitally.

“We are therefore proposing a number of changes across the business which sadly mean the loss of jobs for some of our people.

“These decisions are always really difficult; we take the well-being of our people very seriously and have given people as much time as possible to prepare.

“We will be working with our Employee Representative Body to make sure people are well supported through the process, including helping them to find alternative employment by working with local organisations and providing CV and interview training.”