Hopes have been raised that jobs could be saved at a Norwich call centre which had been slated for closure.
This newspaper understands that talks are in progress with a third party that could mean the reprieve of the call centre on Rosary Road currently run by Swinton Insurance, which the company announced in April it was reviewing.
Its closure would mean the loss of up to 180 jobs, as the company concentrated its call centre services at head office in Manchester, and looked at shutting 84 branches nationwide.
The company declined to comment about the call centre's future but confirmed that Swinton's only Norwich branch, in Prince of Wales Road, would remain open.
The possibility that at least some of the jobs could be saved was welcomed by local politicians.
Clive Lewis, member for Norwich South, said: 'If there's a chance that the jobs could be saved then that's great, but I would want to know what the deal is, and make sure that the employees' terms and conditions would at least remain the same or, hopefully, improve.
'Saving people's jobs is key but you don't want them to hold on to their jobs and then find that they are working harder for less.'
Lesley Grahame, councillor for Thorpe Hamlet ward on Norwich City Council, said the potential reprieve would be good news for employees and businesses in the area.
But she added: 'I am concerned that the trend towards moving all services online is leaving many people behind, mostly through loss of jobs, but also through loss of human contact when people access services.
'It is important to retain the options of telephone and face-to-face contact for those who are not habitual internet users, or whose circumstances don't fit the boxes required for online transactions.'
When it announced its decision, Swinton said it was closing branches because an increasing number of customers were choosing to buy insurance products online or over the phone.
Chief executive Gilles Normand said the company was 'reshaping our distribution model', and as part of the restructure would be investing £45m in IT and digital technology at its new head office and contact centre in Manchester.
It said staff would be redeployed to other parts of the business where possible.
Do you work at Swinton Insurance? Contact Mark Shields on 01603 772426 or email mark.shields@archant.co.uk
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