Telford firm redundancies: Business chiefs hope staff find new jobs soon amid local economy concerns

Richard Sheehan, chief executive of Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, was reacting to news of the major announcement from pensions and investments firm ReAssure.

The company is introducing a new online platform for its clients.

Mr Sheehan said: "Redundancies on this scale clearly have a major impact on the local business community.

“Although we are hearing some very positive success stories in Shropshire at the moment, we also know there are going to be some challenges around businesses which are restructuring or consolidating."

Mr Sheehan said there are a huge number of vacancies being reported across Shropshire and the task is to ensure they get back into the workforce as quickly as physically possible.

He added: “There is never a good time for news like this, but at least it has come when there are a huge number of vacancies being reported across Shropshire.

“We need to make sure that all the people impacted at ReAssure get the support they need to understand and make the most of their transferable skills.

“It is important to get these people back into the workplace as quickly as physically possible.”

In a statement to the London Stock Exchange the company that owns ReAssure said: “Phoenix Group, the UK’s largest long-term savings and retirement business, today announces plans to extend its long-standing partnership with leading global technology and IT services provider Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

“Phoenix will be moving circa three million policies from its Alpha platform to the TCS BaNCSTM platform provided by TCS’s UK subsidiary Diligenta, a leading provider of business process services to the life and pensions industry.”

ReAssue was acquired by Pheonix in 2020 and that included its Alpha administration platform, which manages legacy ReAssure products.

Since then, Phoenix has operated the Alpha platform in-house, alongside its outsourced partnership with TCS.