UK cheque processing firm Intelligent Processing Solutions Ltd (iPSL) is planning to close seven sites across the country resulting in approximately 600 job losses.
Staff have been informed that iPSL will be scaling back its operations to just two sites in Northampton and Milton Keynes, shuttering offices at Bootle, Bradford, Copley, Edinburgh Tweed House, Chelmsford, Clydebank and Camberley in 2018
The proposal, which has yet to be signed off by the Board, will leave a workforce of just over 700 at iPSL which handles around 80% of cheques issued in the UK each year.
Labour union Unite branded the closures as "tragic" and railed against the increasing tide of digital transformation across the financial service sector.
"The changing face of cheque processing, with new digital imaging, has brought considerable difficulties for this industry," says Dominic Hook, Unite national officer. "Unite wants to now see iPSL make the necessary investment through new technology to secure as many jobs as is possible."