Nearly 100 employees at UKI Partnerships, the affinity arm of RBS Insurance, have lost their jobs in a review of the company's operations.

A range of staff from eight operational sites, including Ipswich, Nottingham and Leeds, have been affected by the review.

A UKI spokesman confirmed that some employees chose to take voluntary redundancy, while others have been redeployed to new roles.

He said: "At the end of consultations only a small number will go on compulsory redundancy.

Put that against the 4,000 head count at UKI and it only represents 0.25% of our work force."

A source close to UKI recently suggested that the review was being made as part of a "cost-cutting exercise" aimed at increasing profits for 2006.

But the spokesman added: "This is just a realignment of our operational structure to make sure that it is as efficient as it can possibly be and to make sure we have got the right capacity in place to deal with our demand.