A BRADFORD-BASED building society is to make redundancies at its head office.

Yorkshire Building Society has not said how many jobs it plans to axe, but the Telegraph & Argus was told by an employee that around 120 staff could be affected.

The mutual, which has head offices in Rooley Lane, says the changes stem from 2016 when it initially announced plans to make the building society its only brand on the high street.

This means the number of staff needed at the head office has come under review.

YBS has been downsizing since November 2017 when it announced plans to close 13 branches across the country.

A Yorkshire Building Society Group spokesperson said: “In 2016 we announced our intention to deliver better efficiency and improved value to our customers by focusing on our core mortgages and savings business and making Yorkshire Building Society our only high street brand.

“This has resulted in a review of our head office teams to determine the impact these changes will have on the number of roles and type of work required from our support functions. Whilst we’ve worked extremely hard to retain our colleagues and minimise job losses, naturally there has been an impact.

“We are unable to confirm how many roles will be made redundant as a result of these changes.

"Whilst a number of people may be impacted by these ongoing reviews, the actual number who will leave the organisation as a result of redundancy will be lower.”

A relative of someone facing redundancy, who did not wish to be named, said staff had been informed of the changes on Thursday last week and affected staff were in consultation with the mutual about the changes.

Some people may leave the Society, but plans are being put in place to find workers a new position within YBS.

The spokesperson added: “We are committed to making any changes with thought and respect for our people. Where roles are affected we are doing everything we can to support colleagues in finding an alternative role either within the Group or elsewhere.

“We have appointed a team focused on linking skills and experience with roles across the Group as well as providing internal and external training to help with skills development, writing CVs and covering letters, interview simulations and time off work to attend interviews.

“We regularly review all areas of the business to ensure we continue to deliver greater efficiency and long-term value for our 3.1m customers whilst retaining a good level of customer service across the Group.”