Royal London plans IT outsourcing shake-up as staff brace for redundancies
Royal London plans to cut hundreds of IT jobs and shift work to India under an outsourcing deal with IBM, according to sources, with redundancies expected by the end of December.
Sources said Royal London's chief technology officer, James Sandell, told IT staff in September that the insurance and pensions giant was partnering with IBM to outsource a substantial portion of its technology operations. A consultation process was expected to follow.
A Royal London spokesperson told The Register: "Royal London has appointed IBM as its strategic technology infrastructure partner as it continues to develop its technology strategy. The partnership will give Royal London access to IBM's specialist capability, scale and experience. Royal London will remain accountable for service delivery and regulatory requirements and continues to focus on ensuring continuity and quality of service for customers."
We asked Royal London how many UK IT roles it would retain and whether IBM would move work to India.
The exact number of jobs at risk remains unclear, although one Glassdoor review posted on October 6 claims that hundreds of positions in the company's technology operations division are being eliminated.
"A vast amount of knowledge is being lost by the business, a lot that is not yet documented due to constant years of recruitment freeze and workload volume," they wrote.
The reviewer also questioned whether management had grasped just how much work would be involved in handing operations over to IBM, particularly with already stretched teams being cut to a fraction of their former size.
Royal London replied to the Glassdoor review, acknowledging staff concerns about the changes, though it didn't comment on the claims about outsourcing and redundancies.
"We recognise that as Royal London is going through a period of transformation, this has raised questions and concerns for some colleagues," the company wrote. "We have established channels for colleagues to raise these, including through People Leaders and Colleague Representatives, and I encourage colleagues to use these routes to discuss their concerns."
Other October reviews questioned the handling of the outsourcing and Royal London's commitment to its mutual values.
An October 12 reviewer identifying themselves as an IT infrastructure employee said the company had historically offered good career prospects, before criticizing its new direction.
"Sudden outsourcing goes against all Royal London values," the reviewer wrote, adding that employees were questioning the company's direction amid reports of a hiring freeze and further potential cuts.
Another review, posted on October 20, suggested the IBM deal was the latest in a series of outsourcing decisions following an earlier move to transfer servicing jobs to South Africa.
"A mutual company but not mutual values when it comes to things like this," the reviewer claimed.
The planned cuts follow rising profits. Royal London reported adjusted group operating profit of 187 million in the first half of 2026, up 13 percent year-on-year.
Royal London has been keen to trumpet the benefits of its mutual structure, under which it is owned by customers rather than shareholders. Reporting the results in August, chief executive Barry O'Dwyer highlighted the 199 million distributed to eligible customers through ProfitShare in April.
"As a customer-owned business, when we do well, our customers share in that success," O'Dwyer said.
For employees facing redundancy before Christmas, the benefits of that success may be somewhat harder to appreciate.
The Reg has asked IBM to comment. (R)