Strangely, Ulster Bank has been hiring - or not

Ulster Bank is supposed to be cutting staff. Back in January, it revealed plans to cut 950 jobs. The chart below, taken from today's first quarter results of parent company RBS, suggests it hasn't happened - yet. Bizarrely, Ulster Bank has actually added staff: headcount was up 300 in the first quarter.

Nevertheless, Ulster Bank has definitely been making some senior staff redundant.

The Irish Times reported this week that John McGrane, head of product and services sales at Ulster Bank corporate markets, is seeking an injunction to prevent the bank from getting rid of him. 54 year old McGrane has worked for Ulster Bank since he was 17 and is a senior executive at the bank. Ulster Bank told McGrane that it may not be able to certify him as fit and proper to the Central Bank because of his alleged indebtedness. McGrane is arguing that his career to date has been exemplary.

Divisional headcount evolution at RBS:

Clarification from Ulster Bank

Ulster Bank have sent us this clarification about their headcount figures. Maybe they haven't been hiring after all.

"Ulster Bank employs approximately 6000 people on the island of Ireland and our employee numbers have remained at that level since Q4 2011. For the purposes of Financial Reporting, RBS splits our numbers out between central functions and non-Core rather than outlining our total employee figure. Therefore the 4500 figure disclosed in the RBS Interim Management Statement does not take account of those areas. The number of Ulster Bank employees has gone from 4200 in Q4 2011 to 4500 in the report due to an internal restructure in Business Services Ireland which has seen a number of employees move from this central area to Ulster Bank - the decrease can be seen in the Business Services number."