Hundreds of redundancies announced at pensions and savings firm based in Telford centre

ReAssure, based at Windsor House, in Telford town centre, has announced that it is taking more of its financial services online in a partnership with TCS Diligenta, a UK-based arm of the giant India-based Tata Consultancy Services.

"In terms of Telford – we are projecting circa 460 roles to be made redundant," said a spokesman for the company. ReAssure is itself a part of the Phoenix Group.

The spokesman added: "A number of roles will also move to TCS Diligenta in the Telford offices to continue looking after our customers. This is planned to take place in 2024."

The spokesman said employees were informed on Tuesday about initial plans and they are "working through" which roles will be impacted.

They say they will "ensure our colleagues are notified as soon as any further decisions are made".

"A support package for all impacted colleagues is in flight to support with leading through change and also outplacement activity including career coaching, CV writing and interview techniques and job searches.

"In addition, we are exploring opportunities to link in with local employers in the affected areas."

The company is extending a longstanding partnership with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) by moving the customer servicing for the ReAssure customers to TCS Diligenta, which will consolidate the majority of policies onto one platform.

"It will enable Phoenix customers to benefit from the clear digital focus, consistent customer journeys and customer proposition provided by one platform," said the spokesman.

Across the entire company they expect a total of around 850 roles to be made redundant across its three main sites over the next three years.

But they add that they will be creating some "additional customer servicing roles in Telford" as work is consolidated.

In a statement to the London Stock Exchange the company 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 3 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.

The statement added: "Over the past three years, Phoenix has deepened its relationship with TCS and Diligenta – announcing the movement of its Standard Life business to TCS in 2019 and more recently through the proposed acquisition of Sun Life of Canada UK which already uses the TCS BaNCSTM platform.

"Consolidating all policies on TCS BaNCSTM will allow the business to benefit from TCS’s significant ongoing investment in the platform with Phoenix customers benefitting from the clear digital focus, consistent customer journeys and customer proposition provided by one platform."

In turn the Alpha platform will be decommissioned, with all policies moving on a staggered basis to TCS BaNCSTM.

"It is expected this will be complete by 2026," says the company.

"Some back office administrative processes will be moved to TCS’s operational hub in India.

"All of the customer call servicing will remain within TCS’s UK operations with the plan to operate the customer contact centre from the existing Phoenix Telford site using ReAssure operational teams.

"This will eventually lead to the closure of the Phoenix site in Hitchin (Hertfordshire) by 2026."

Phoenix is working with TCS to finalise the detail of changes proposed, and – at an appropriate time – will enter consultation with impacted employees.

"Phoenix will look to ensure that redundancies are kept to a minimum wherever possible, for example through redeployment opportunities and natural attrition," they added.

The company says it expects to make £0.2 billion of "net cost synergies" from the integration.

"These synergies comprise annual post-tax cost savings of c.£35 million per annum, valued at c.£0.4 billion which increases long-term cash generation, and post-tax integration costs estimated at c.£0.2 billion incurred by the Group," they said.

Andy Briggs, the chief executive of Phoenix Group said: "We continually review our operating model to ensure it is meeting the evolving needs of our customers on their journey to and through retirement.

"Since the acquisition of ReAssure in 2020, Phoenix has been operating two customer administration platforms concurrently.

"This gave us optionality in the short-term, but over the long term, it makes more sense to consolidate policies onto the TCS BaNCSTM platform. It will remove duplicate investment, fully leverage the advantages of our strategic relationship with TCS and ensure we maintain cost efficiency. It will enable Phoenix customers to benefit from the clear digital focus, consistent customer journeys and customer proposition provided by one platform.

“While this transformation will lead to the transfer of a number of roles from existing ReAssure sites, we are committed to supporting all those employees who will be impacted and will do whatever we can to minimise redundancies.”