Jobs axed in Standard Life marketing strategy shake-up

STANDARD Life is set to shed jobs as the asset management group introduces the biggest change in its marketing strategy since it was demutualised more than two years ago.

About 75 posts will be axed by next spring, Standard Life said yesterday, but the company maintained that would be offset by the creation of 38 jobs in Edinburgh as part of the radical transformation of its strategy.

Under the new marketing plans – which critics say are being introduced to allow Standard Life to catch up with its rivals – the pensions and insurance giant will listen to customers' needs and gauge the market's requirements before designing new products.

About half of the job cuts will be made in Edinburgh, with the rest expected to come from Standard Life's Bournemouth office.

It is understood that the posts that will be lost will be a mixture of both junior and senior roles, while the new jobs being created are expected to be at a "middle management" level.

The sea-change in product development has been driven by Simon Gulliford, who was appointed as chief marketing officer of Standard Life in April.

Staff in Edinburgh were briefed yesterday morning, with workers in Bournemouth told in the afternoon. Standard Life has about 400 marketing staff globally, with 270 working in Edinburgh.

Gulliford, who was marketing director at Barclays, is said to have briefed Standard Life staff on his review of its marketing strategy in April and then updated them in October.

A spokeswoman for the group said: "Standard Life is radically transforming the way in which it approaches marketing. We are therefore reviewing our marketing function to ensure its structure supports our business going forward."

But some industry observers said Standard Life was merely catching up with other firms.

Neil Lovatt, sales and marketing director at Scottish Friendly, said: "The age of the big life companies dictating down to the market have long, long gone.

"Standard Life was one of the beasts of the industry that could design products and push them into market – but that's not the way to run financial services now.

"If financial products are going to be successful then they need to be based on good research and an understanding of what the consumer needs."

Standard Life – which was established in 1825 and listed on the stock exchange in July 2006 – has about seven million customers.

In the UK, Standard Life has 7,270 permanent staff, down from 7,388 in 2007. In Edinburgh, the group employs 6,093 people, down slightly from 6,106 last year. Globally, Standard Life has a further 3,000 staff.