Life insurance giant Prudential is to focus on reducing costs after announcing major outsourcing plans.
The company has unveiled plans to outsource nearly 2,000 UK jobs as part of a major restructuring. A total of 1,750 employees based in Reading and Stirling will transfer to outsourcing firm Capita.
Another 1,250 staff based in Mumbai, India, who service the UK market, will also transfer to Capita under the arrangement. Shares were up marginally 3p, or 0.5% in early trade to 627 pence.
The announcement comes after an eight-month review by Prudential management. It was begun in March this year as bosses warned they wanted to save £195 million a year within three years to help the under-performing UK arm.
Nick Prettejohn, chief executive of Prudential UK, said: 'After detailed analysis of a number of potential options, it was clear that Capita best enables us to deliver continued high levels of customer service while providing ongoing certainty over costs.'