4,500 UK RBS job losses confirmed

Edinburgh is likely to feel some pain in the latest round of RBS redundancies. The Group Manufacturing division of the bank is the victim of the 4,500 job cuts announced today - the hub of which in the Scottish capital.

The division is the 'engine room of the bank', encompassing IT, document processing, and bank property admin, and is by far the biggest single employer in the group with 45,000 staff.

Though RBS says it's still too early to determine exactly where in the UK the axe is likely to fall, the bulk of the Group Manufacturing division in Scotland, with other significant centres in London, Manchester and Bristol.

RBS says it aims to minimise the number of job cuts by reducing contract staff, taking advantage of natural turnover and seeking voluntary redundancies, as well as redeploying up to 650 people.

The cuts are part of the bank's attempt to save 2.5bn over three years. It's currently in discussions with the union Unite to decide on where in the country the cuts will occur, and says that compulsory redundancies are a "last resort".

"We need to cut our costs, as in all businesses, given the current recession. Unfortunately that means taking difficult decisions about jobs," says chief executive Stephen Hester.

Whether Gordon Pell's assertion last month in the Scottish Affairs Committee that just 260 jobs would be lost in Scotland turns out to be prophetic or an inaccurate gaff remains to be seen.

Scottish government finance secretary John Swinney offered a slight reason for optimism though: "I made clear the Scottish government would work extremely closely with the company to help those affected and minimise the impact in Scotland as far as possible."

Liberal Democrat Finance spokesperson Jeremy Purvis says RBS employees in Scotland will be "deeply concerned".