Future of Quinn's Navan office in question after 109 jobs are cut

Fears have been expressed about the future viability of Quinn Insurance's Navan office following the news that more than half the staff there are to be laid off, leaving just 87 staff in a building designed to accommodate 750. In a massive blow to the county, the company's administrators announced on Friday that 109 of the 196 staff employed at the Navan office in the IDA Business Park at Johnstown will be made redundant across all levels over the coming 12 months, with 37 of these to be let go in the first phase by the end of June. The redundancies will initally be on a voluntary basis but will move to compulsary if the numbers required are not achieved. Navan has been proportionately the worst hit office for job losses, with 56 per cent of staff there to be made redundant, while Cavan and Enniskillen will see 32 per cent of jobs cut and Blanchardstown 38 per cent. Approximately 315 of the 794 staff in Blanchardstown are also resident in Meath, so job losses there will also undoubtedly impact on the county. With just 87 staff to be left in a building that was constructed for 750, there are now concerns for the future of the Navan office, particularly following the announcement that Quinn Insurance is to be sold. Navan Mayor Joe Reilly has expressed his anger at the "unnecessary" job losses of Quinn Insurance workers in the town and has voiced concerns at the future location of the company in Navan. He has called for a multi-agency task force to be set up immediately in an attempt to secure the remaining jobs and provide support to those workers from both Quinn and Irish Cement who are to lose their jobs. The Navan Mayor said the job losses amounted to a devasting blow for the workers, their families and the broader Navan economy, and said it the raises serious concerns about the remaining jobs as the Quinn operation in Navan was built to house more than 700 workers. "How long will it be before the administrators turn their attention on both these jobs and premises?" he asked. Employee representative Kevin Walsh, who is a claims manager in Navan, also said that staff are very concerned about the future of the Navan office. He said: "We clearly asked the administrators about this and they said they had no plans to close to Navan office but it is an office built for 750 people with 80 people in it - if you do the maths it doesnt make sense." Mr Walsh added that, after the redundancies, the Blanchardstown office would be operating at half its capacity and that the two offices could be combined. The announcement that Quinn was to be put on the market emerged shortly after the redundancies were announced and employees are concerned that if Quinn Insurance is bought out by another insurer who is already established in this country, they would already have their head office elsewhere. Mr Walsh said it was unlikely they would keep a big office like Navan open and the remaining staff may be told they have a job but will have to move. The scale of the redundances outlined by the administrators on Friday was a big shock to staff in Navan who will see the workforce more than halved. "It was a big shock, a bit of a bolt for one site to be hit so hard, percentage-wise. No other site was hit this hard. About 55-56 per cent of the staff here, whereas other sites are 25-35 per cent. A lot of people are scrambling to see what are their options and there are a lot of questions about if the company is sold," he said. When asked if there was likely to be a good uptake for the voluntary redundancy scheme, Mr Walsh said it was very early to tell and that while he did not hear of too many coming forward, the HR dept was only kicking into gear yesterday (Tuesday) morning after the bank holiday weekend and that people would have a lot of questions to be answered first. He explained that the profile of employees in Cavan, for example, was 10-12 years service but that in Navan it would mostly be two-three years. Mr Walsh is one of six employee representatives in the Navan office and they were meeting with management yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon, where they would be looking to get clarity on a lot of issues surrounding the redundancies. The first phase of the redundancies will see 37 people let go and Mr Walsh said it may even be hard to get those 37 voluntarily. Employees have until 19th May to volunteer and, after that, a selection criteria for compulsary redundancies will be agreed and the first phase will run until the end of June. The second phase is up to the end of December and the third phase runs until the end of March 2011. Last week, the Financial Regulator eased the restrictions on Quinn Insurance trading in the UK and Northern Ireland and the private motor business is now back up and running, though there are stipulations that Quinn has to to increase its prices by 20-25 per cent which will affect the company's competitiveness. Private motor insurance accounts for approximately 40-50 per cent of the company's overall UK business and employees are hopeful that some more of the UK market will be reopened in the coming week in line with the administrators' business plan. The 900 redundancies announced by the administrators is based on this business model and what level of business can be expected, given the new pricing policy. Mr Walsh said it is possible that the 900 job losses could be improved upon in time, based on how well business picks up in the UK but said that "nothing is certain".