Barclays to restructure 450 jobs, employee union sees heavy layoffs

LONDON (Reuters) - British banking giant Barclays is restructuring around 450 jobs, it said on Tuesday, in a move employee union Unite said would lead to large numbers of redundancies across the UK midlands.

The union said the lender had informed staff at its Coventry Westwood Park and Birmingham Snowhill sites that their jobs were at risk.

Further job losses will impact other Barclays sites in locations including Canary Wharf in London, the union said.

A Barclays spokesman said 400 of the staff affected would be offered jobs in new locations including Glasgow, Northampton and Manchester, with the lender expecting 50 roles to go.

British banks have made heavy job cuts in recent years as they have sought to slash costs in response to pressure on profits and more customers banking online.

The move comes after Barclays said it was weighing axing or relocating 280 staff from a call centre in Leeds earlier this year.

(Reporting by Iain Withers, editing by Sinead Cruise)