Northern Rock To Increase Debt Staff

Northern Rock is planning to double the number of staff it employs in debt management over the coming year.

The BBC revealed that the bank, which is now under government control, will cut 2,000 jobs overall by 2011 but that more staff will be redeployed to debt management.

This department will grow from 176 to 444 because the bank is anticipating an increase in customers unable to meet mortgage repayments in the next 12 months, a document seen by BBC Radio Newcastle is reported to have said.

Recent figures from Nationwide revealed that house prices fell by 2.5 per cent during May, taking them 4.4 per cent lower than the same period in 2007.

According to the memo, this number will then be reduced to 282 by the end of 201, by which point the workforce will have been cut to 3,440 from 5,485.

"As part of Northern Rock's business plan the company is committed to further strengthening its controls and processes and debt management is one area where this strengthening will occur," a spokesperson for the Bank told the Times.

Northern Rock was nationalised after a run on the bank forced it to seek emergency loans from the Treasury and a suitable buyer could not be found.