Insurance firm Norwich Union is closing down its customer call centre in Liverpool, leading to the loss of 321 jobs, and is shifting the work to other sites in the UK and to its offshore operations in India.
Norwich Union says it is shutting the call centre due to the continuing growth in online insurance sales as well as improved processes and increased efficiency.
The centre, which predominantly handles customer service calls for Norwich Union Direct, will close by 31 October 2006.
Work done at the centre will move to other existing Norwich Union Insurance centres in Glasgow and Sheffield, as well as to the firm's offshore centre in India.
Of the 321 staff affected, 180 work in motor insurance customer service, with a further 40 in home insurance customer service. The rest work in a range of support and administrative roles.
Commenting on the move, Simon Machell, chief executive of Norwich Union Insurance, says: "It is always a difficult decision to close any part of our operation with the resulting impact on people and jobs, but we have to remain competitive in a constantly-changing market."
In a separate move, Norwich Union says it is also cutting 17 staff from its technical support team in Sheffield.