Hundreds of Fife call centre workers will move to a new home next summer after Sainsbury’s Bank revealed the acquisition of new premises in Rosyth.
The lender has taken over office building Caledonia House on Rosyth’s Innova Campus, and will transfer 270 Lloyds staff to the site during the course of next year.
Employees will move to the company from their present bases in Pitreavie and Rosyth under the terms of a deal struck between the former partners in May last year.
The two-floor building offers 21,000ft2 of space. It will boast break-out facilities, a restaurant and showers after upcoming fit-out works, as well as adequate parking and links to public transport networks.
Sainsbury’s chief executive Peter Griffiths said the bank was delivering on a promise to the workers soon to formally join its roll.
“These are exciting times for the bank and today’s announcement underlines our long-term commitment to our customer services colleagues, operation and customers,” he said.
“We promised our talented and committed customer services colleagues that we’d find them a great new home nearby, and we’re delighted to have acquired this site so close to their current location.”
A spokeswoman said the bank would seek to award work to local contractors where possible, and stressed that the acquisition for an undisclosed fee demonstrated the bank’s long-term commitment to the area and its contact centre workers.
A phased transfer of staff will take place as employees move to the new office next summer, she added.
Sainbury’s was the first major retailer to enter the banking world when it founded the division alongside Bank of Scotland in 1997, but took full control of the Edinburgh-headquartered joint venture which bears its name after a £248 million buyout of Lloyds Banking Group’s 50% stake in May last year.
At the time of the deal Sainsbury’s said it would inject £100m of capital into the bank over the following three years, and would make no job cuts in Edinburgh or Fife.
Around 370 people work at the bank’s Edinburgh base in South Gyle, with a further 30 based at Holborn in London.
An additional 500 people from across the UK will transfer to the bank following the recent agreement of a new five-year deal with foreign exchange firm Travelex.
The supermarket chain has also lodged plans to build a new convenience store in Rosyth as part of an ambitious masterplan for the Camdean area.
It will anchor a major development which could eventually include hundreds of homes, alongside offices, flats and other neighbourhood facilities.