Southend: 300 insurance jobs axed at CE heath

International insurance broker CE Heath is to move out of its office block in Victoria Avenue, Southend, by mid November, with redundancies starting from mid June.

Friday's news is a bitter blow to the town and its economy - and comes just a day after we revealed two major stores are to pull out of the High Street because of falling sales.

For more on this story, see 'Southend: Merger kills off insurance giant' in Newsround Civic leaders and politicians today told of their distress at Heath's decision - and their fears for the future of the town.

The company is moving its operations to London, Swindon and South Woodford.

Shocked staff were informed of the closure at a meeting held in the council's Civic Centre at 11.30am on Thursday.

A member of staff, who did not wish to be named, said everyone had been stunned by the announcement.

She said: "It has come as a complete shock because we own the building here and have been in this town for more than 25 years. We thought they would keep Southend and move some of it to Swindon.

"At the end of the meeting when we were asked if there were any questions, people just put their coats on and walked out. They are devastated."

The company is centralising operations after a merger with the Lambert Fenchurch Group on December 17.

Since the merger, Heath has been ranked sixth in the world amongst international insurance brokers - it insures the largest ship in the world and other assets such as oil rigs.

The company has other offices in Southend at Sutton Road and Comet Way and a social club in Wellstead Gardens.

In a press statement, group chief executive David Margrett said the decision had been difficult and was no reflection on staff.

He said: "The proposal to centralise these functions in Swindon follows a detailed review of the alternatives by the board, which believes this is the best and most cost efficient way of achieving the necessary integration.

"The group will be making every effort to mitigate the effects of the closure, including outplacement support and active liaison with local recruitment agencies.

"It is also hoped some staff based in Southend will transfer to Swindon and other group locations."

Shock announcement - staff at Heath House in Victoria Avenue, Southend will have to find new jobs

Picture: STEVE O'CONNELL

Drowning sorrows

Tears flowed as freely as the beer, emotions poured from every corner as staff from Heath drowned their sorrows.

The news could not have been more devastating - just a few weeks into the new millennium and more than 300 people were facing up to the prospect of life on the dole.

Many clutched their copies of the Echo as, just half-an-hour after being told the grim news that they were no longer wanted, they began the task of planning their future and looking for work.

They needed a drink, they needed to get that bitter taste of rejection out of their mouths. They headed for the Bar Victoria.

There, husbands and wives, mothers and daughters - Heath had fostered a family atmosphere - stood side by side as they tried to hide their anguish behind a sea of smiles. It was a brave facade.

Mary Taylor, 54, of Hardy's Lane, Canvey, has worked for CE Heath for 20 years and is currently in the central accounts department. She summed up the feelings of many.

She said: "I was dumbstruck when I found out what was happening. I'm choked about it now. I love work."

Her daughter, Ruth Willetts, 30, of Norfolk Close, Canvey, and step daughter, Lesley Taylor, 31, of Benfleet, also work for the company.

Already Lesley was clutching her copy of the Echo to look for another job.

Sarah Marchant, 37, of Southend, said: "They've made this decision without considering people's feelings.

"I don't think anyone will be relocating. None of us are going to move to Swindon."

Team leader Paul Baerselman who worked for the firm for 23 years said: "There hasn't been any consultation about this at all.

"If there had been, we would have been able to show them how good we are."

Andy Powell, of Eastwood, also a team leader, said: "The reasons behind the decision seem to have been purely financial, as opposed to operational.

"There is a family feeling in the firm because there are such a lot of very long-serving people. Their lifestyle, social arrangements and everything are all based round working for Heath's.

"The firm's sports and social club in Wellstead Gardens, Southend, is very active, but that has to be in jeopardy now.

"There will be no reason to have that any more without the Southend office. There will be nobody to use it."

Recalling the moment when the bombshell landed, one worker, who asked not to be named, said: "All the bosses were called into a meeting earlier, and somebody let slip what it was about.

"It went through the whole building so we had an idea before we went to our meeting, but some people burst into tears when we were told.

"There was absolute silence. When they asked afterwards if anyone had any questions, no one said anything. You could have heard a pin drop."

Shock - Heath workers gathered in Bar Victoria after the announcement

News is serious blow for the town

As Southend reels from the news that yet another major company is uprooting itself and moving elsewhere, councillors, MPs and businessmen say lessons must be learned if the town is to survive.

Sir Teddy Taylor , MP for Rochford and Southend East, said the cause of the closure must be looked at.

He said: "It's obviously very bad news when the economic outlook in Southend was getting better. We really have a nightmare with the number of empty office properties in the Victoria Avenue area.

"This really is very sad news for the people who work in the company. We clearly need to pull out all the stops to ensure another major organisation will seek to establish offices in these buildings.

"But most importantly, we need to find out why these companies are leaving Southend. I was in contact with C&A about their reasons for leaving and it threw up some important points. I will be writing to ask Heath why they have initiated this move."

David Elf, Lib Dem council leader, said it was bad news for both the workers and the town itself, but said the council was fighting to help regenerate the town.

He said: "The buildings along Victoria Avenue were ideal for their time but not for the needs of companies today. The key thing is to ensure that those places do not remain empty."

Lib Dem councillor Nigel Baker, supercouncillor for regeneration and economical development, was horrified by the news.

He said: "This is a real body blow for Southend. We already have enormous employment problems in the town. We will just have to work harder to get some jobs into the region to compensate for this loss."

Mr Baker said the council was convinced it would soon receive European funding which is aimed at regenerating run-down areas and giving faltering economies a cash kickstart.

George Krawiec, chief executive and town clerk, said if anything justified the need for the European money then this news was it.

He said: "This identifies what the council has already recognised and has started addressing - the issue of old office accommodation being state of the art in the 1960s but unsuitable for the modern information technology times."

But Frances Bramzel, member of the South East Essex Chamber of Commerce, felt it may not be all doom and gloom for the town.

She said: "I hope some other companies will see the potential in Southend and take up the location. The harder we train and prepare, the better our chance of attracting business to the area.

"I think Sir Teddy's view is right - we must find out and understand why these companies choose to leave town.

"Perhaps it is all part of globalisation and the way of the world and there's nothing we can do, but perhaps there's something good which can come from it."

Conservative leader Charles Latham said it was a very sad day for Southend as Heath had been in the town for a long time, but "these things do happen".

He said: "We are a great service industry centre and we can only hope another employer will come in to replace them. That will need active encouragement by the council and I hope that is something we can do. We need to work closely with industry to help regenerate the town."

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.