A TOTAL of 120 jobs are feared to be at risk after Bupa Global told staff of a major restructure.

Insiders said “at least 120 jobs” were at risk at the Brighton employer, with staff describing the changes as “ruthless”.

Another source claimed as many as 300 city roles would be affected with many relocated to London or abroad.

Bupa confirmed “a number of employees” in the Brighton office would be affected with some roles relocated and others “removed”.

A spokesman said the restructure would help the company to serve customers “in their own language, culture and time zone”.

But it refused to confirm numbers as The Argus went to press last night.

Affected staff were told individually of the restructure plans on Tuesday.

Bupa Global, formerly known as Bupa International, sells international health insurance and employs 750 people in Brighton across two sites at Russell House in Russell Mews and Victory House in Trafalgar Place.

One employee, who is unaffected, said: “By moving a lot of jobs either up to London or out into our regional offices like Dubai and Hong Kong they are effectively making it impossible for people to apply for them.

“The new senior management team are all relatively new and the heritage Bupa has in Brighton, what it contributes to the local economy and the loyalty that people have given to the company for years counts for nothing to them.

“This restructure has been rumoured for almost 12 months but nobody knew what the extent of it was going to be so for the majority of people this was a huge shock.”

She added: “I don’t think I’ll hang about for long though as it makes you realise that it’s not a nice place to work when they treat good people like this.”

Staff were called into meetings with HR managers with some told their job no longer exists.

A 45-day consultation period has now been launched.

Some have been told they can apply for jobs in the new structure but have yet to be given any new job descriptions.

Another insider, who did not wish to named, said: “Basically it’s been going on for a year.

“Staff have been told there will be redundancies, given them dates, then the dates have changed.

“It’s created a lot of anxiety for everyone.

“It used to be a good local company but they brought in a lot of top management from the city and everything changed.

“Threats of disciplinaries have been made to anyone who speaks out about it.

“I’ve never known anything like it.

“No company should treat staff the way they have – it’s unbelievable.”

A Bupa spokesman said: “Bupa Global provides products and services to over 1.9 million customers in many countries around the world.

“We are reorganising our operations, including opening new offices abroad, to better serve our customers in their own language, culture and time zone.

“As a consequence, a number of employees in our Brighton office will be affected as we relocate some roles, and remove others, under the proposed new structure.

“We have entered into a consultation period with those employees potentially affected, and will be looking to redeploy people into new roles elsewhere in Bupa where possible.

“We are continuing to provide support to our employees during this period.”