Homeserve workers escape the axe (From The Oxford Times)

Homeserve workers escape the axe

4:36pm Wednesday 8th February 2012 in News By Andrew Smith

The jobs of 70 staff at utility insurance firm Homeserve in Banbury are safe, despite the company cutting 200 jobs.

Bosses confirmed the redundancies will come at its head office in Walsall with workers at the office in Cherwell Business Village, Southam Road, which is responsible for plumbing and drainage as well as staff training, escaping the axe.

The firm, which last year insured three million people in the UK against burst pipes, broken down boilers and electrical problems, stopped making outbound sales calls in October and retrained staff after a review into whether its pricing policies were clear.

With it taking longer than thought to resume marketing activities, it said customer numbers could be down as much as eight per cent — or 240,000 — in the year to the end of March. It had previously said it expected a five per cent fall.