Premium finance specialist Singer & Friedlander Insurance Finance this week axed four sales executives in a bid to slash costs.

Richard Pyman, chairman of the company's asset finance business, said the job losses were part of a wider restructuring, with more redundancies likely to follow.

One of the dismissed sales executives said: "This has come out of the blue and I am absolutely livid. They have treated us terribly."

It is understand that up to one-third of the company's premium finance sales team will be sacrificed in the cull.

Bob Darling, managing director of Singer & Friedlander Insurance Finance, said: "The restructuring is entirely in line with our acquisition of Benfield in November 2004.

"The synergy between the two companies and the adoption of Benfield's IT systems have allowed us to make some cost savings. We have always said that where savings are feasible without sacrificing efficiency and service we will make them, as any business would."

The company last week announced that it had signed a three-year deal to provide premium finance services to broker Moorhouse, worth £45m.

Pyman said: "The Benfield acquisition and the deal with Moorhouse demonstrate our commitment to grow in the insurance finance business."