ONE in 20 staff at the headquarters of Southampton financial services giant Skandia are to be laid off, the Daily Echo can reveal.

The pensions and investment company last night confirmed 86 jobs are being made redundant in its operations department.

Skandia bosses said the job losses were part of a restructuring drive as more of its business is conducted online, requiring fewer staff.

Nearly a third of the losses will management roles, Skandia said.

Around 1,600 people are employed at the landmark Skandia House in Commercial Road.

The redundancies follow the announcement of 150 job losses in a cost-cutting programme last year which helped Skandia UK post profits of £140m, up 56 per cent. Skandia UK manages assets worth £35.3m.

A Skandia spokesman said the job cuts were a result of a restructuring of Skandia’s operations functions such as processing new business applications, and carrying out valuations of policies and investments.

“It’s part of an ongoing review of our business to ensure we are operating as efficiently as we can,” he said.

The spokesman said the company had now entered a statutory period of consultation with affected staff but some may remain in their posts for up to eight months. Some could be redeployed. Staff were given notice of the job cuts last week.

Skandia UK is part of the wealth management business of South African financial giant Old Mutual plc.

Old Mutual chief executive Bob Head has announced he is standing down next month after overseeing £45m of cuts including the closure of nine regional Skandia offices and 250 jobs losses.