Fears are growing at both mortgage lenders that jobs will go, as services are combined.
The takeover of HBOS by Lloyds TSB could lead to mass job losses within the mortgage sector, it has been claimed.
According to reports, as many as 40,000 workers could lose their jobs, as both firms look to combine services. The government-backed £12.2 billion takeover deal was completed yesterday, following a catastrophic loss of investor confidence in HBOS.
As many as 1,000 branches could be shut down as a consequence of the tie-up, with many duplicated administrative jobs at both mortgage lender's head offices also to go.
The chairman of Lloyds TSB, Sir Victor Blank, rubbished the 40,000 figure yesterday, terming it an "imaginary number" and "a product of somebody's imagination", Citywire reports.
Nevertheless, employees of both firms are worried about the future cuts. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph yesterday, an anonymous HBOS worker commented: "No one has job security anymore. When you used to work for the Halifax, it was a job for life. Those days are gone now."
The apparent anti-competitive nature of the new "super-lender", which will incorporate around 28 percent of the entire UK mortgage sector, has also been criticised by some within the industry - with the government even waiving competition laws to allow the takeover.
Mform.co.uk's chief executive said that "we are now heading back to a period of rising rates" due to the deal, while Ray Boulger at brokers John Charcol termed the tie-up "bad news for consumers".
