BBB, which owns Berkeley Independent Advisors, said the possible redundancies are a result of it needing fewer staff due to a number of its network members swapping to its directly authorised (DA) proposition.
In addition, BBB’s chief executive of financial services division Mike Cleary has resigned from the company’s board. However, he said the move was undertaken so he could concentrate on his chief executive role and will be remaining at BBB.
Cleary said: “A number of staff are in a consultation period, some of whose roles may become redundant. This is due to the fact that a number of network members have moved to our DA channel, requiring fewer support services.”
“Accordingly, the Group is reviewing the appropriateness of retaining staff whose services are no longer needed as per normal good business practice.
“We are talking about a tiny amount of the overall workforce,” Cleary added.
Payam Azadi, head of marketing and corporate relations at The Mortgage Times Group, commented: “There is always a danger with networks that don’t have secured distribution channels that they will be affected with these shifts and moves between appointed representative and DA status.
“But we have found that a lot of DA brokers are looking to move across to AR status because of the sheer volume of work required to be DA. So we see no future problems with having to lay-off staff because of the loss of AR members.”
