THE insurer Ageas is shedding jobs in Bournemouth amid a restructuring.

No number has been put on the expected job losses, but one source suggested 100 roles were at risk.

The insurer has more than 700 staff at Deansleigh Road near Castle Lane East.

A statement from Ageas on Thursday said: “Yesterday we announced the start of a consultation with some of our employees as a result of a restructure to support our business strategy.

“Going through a process such as this is never something we want to do, but we do need to make sure our organisational structure is the right shape to support our strategy and ultimately offer simpler processes and lower premiums to our customers.

“This decision follows a shift in how our customers want to interact with us. More and more of our customers are opting for web-based, self-service solutions that enable them to carry out simple transactions by themselves without the need to call a contact centre.

“The type of calls we expect to receive will be more technical in nature requiring less people, but with greater technical proficiency.

“We will support those who may be leaving us, including career transition support and access to our wellbeing services, and have already had a number of volunteers step forward to be considered for redundancy.”

The restructuring also affects a “very small” number of jobs at the company’s UK head office in Eastleigh.

Belgian-owned Ageas employs 2,700 people at its five UK offices.

It said it could not comment on the number of jobs affected until after it had spoken to employees about the options available to them.

Ageas’s UK business started as Bishopsgate Insurance in 1939. It bought Rias in 1997.

The Ageas brand name has existed in Britain since 2010 and has sold motor insurance direct to the customer since 2018.

Since the pandemic started last year, around 90 per cent of its staff have been working remotely.

It has not furloughed any of its employees.

It has introduced a package of support for staff mental health during the Covid crisis.

This has included access to mental health first aiders and activities including fitness challenges, leadership wellbeing webinars, online groups for parents and wellbeing guides, as well as a health and wellbeing bot to encourage staff to look after themselves.