INSURANCE giants Zurich will cut more than 200 jobs in the UK in a bid to streamline services.

It is possible that the firm’s Swindon offices, located in New Bridge Square, will be affected, though bosses have sought to play down any possibility of job cuts in the town.

Around 240 jobs are expected to go nationwide.

Back office and non-market facing areas will likely take the brunt of the cuts, including areas such as finance, operations and marketing.

A spokesman from Zurich said: “It is likely that these cuts will impact across all of our locations in the UK.

"Until the consultation period with our staff is over we won’t know the final outcome on a location by location basis. But this slight reduction in our workforce now doesn’t change our commitment to remaining one of Swindon’s largest employers.”

Bosses have begun a series of consultations with employees in a bid to offer as fair a deal as possible.

“While making these decisions is never done lightly, Zurich is committed to sharing the conclusion of these proposals with employees first,” a spokesman said.

“The steps we are undertaking will make us sustainable in a highly competitive market, creating a platform for growth.”

The cuts are the result of Zurich’s desire to merge its life and general insurance departments.

The insurance provider currently employees different people working in the same roles at each department. But after much consideration, bosses have decided that some of the roles can be merged.

A new leadership team will take control of the combined life and general insurance business.

Tulsi Naidu, Zurich’s UK chief executive, said: “We want to continue our market leadership in some areas and take advantage of opportunities to grow in others, making a strong business stronger still.

"It will be very much business as usual from a market standpoint as we simplify our structure.”

In 2014, Zurich said it planned to cut up to 800 jobs across its global operations, eyeing annual savings of £150m by 2016.

The cuts were made across sales and marketing, senior management, finance, risk, compliance and operations.

More information on the affects of the job cuts to Swindon employees will be reported when more is known.