James Hay cuts 170 jobs in £5.2 million savings drive

James Hay has cut 96 jobs, with 74 more to follow, as part of a drive to save £5.2 million, according to its Irish parent IFG Group.

IFG Group said it was integrating James Hay into its business and hopes to launch a new Sipp in the fourth quarter of this year. The new Sipp will have functionality from the James Hay Sipp but will run off the IFG Group’s technology base.

IFG Group said the head count at James Hay had already been cut from 520 to 424 and this would drop to 350. The total cost of restructuring James Hay, which began in April, would cost £7 million, according to an interim management statement from IFG Group.

IFG Group bought James Hay from Santander in December for £35 million after raising capital through a rights issue. The Dublin-based financial services group made a £8.6 million pre-tax profit for the year ended 31 December 2009 down from £13.1 million in 2008 based on IFRS reporting.

IFG Group also owns wealth manager Saunderson Group, Siddalls and specialist Sipp provider IPS Partnership.