Barclaycard to shift operations to India

London, Mar 7 (UNI) Barclaycard, a division of UK bank Barclays Plc, will shift some of its operations to India in Delhi and Mumbai as the credit card firm is closing its Manchester call centre in July.

The company will also move part of the work to its centre on the Teesdale Business Park, in Stockton, which already employs about 800 staff.

Britain's biggest credit card company will sack more than 600 people with the shut down.

The news comes days after Barclays revealed profits soared 35 per cent to seven billion pounds.

The union, however, is upset with the decision. ''We totally condemn this move. It is totally inappropriate for this large and highly profitable employer to be announcing closures and job losses,'' says Amicus union official Steve Pantak.

Chief Executive Anthony Jenkins points out that Barclaycard's profits fell 40 per cent to 382 million pounds last year.

He says: ''Barclaycard's business is becoming more global and to stay successful we must change how we operate to reflect this.'' The call centre, based at Peterloo House, handles customer service and sales calls for UK credit card customers. It is expected to close on July 16.

The Amicus official has said: ''We have made our opposition to these moves very clear to the bank. We are, however, continuing to meet with the bank." Unions have argued that the timing seemed misguided as many firms were abandoning moves to 'export' work.

UNI