Insurance broker Hill House Hammond (HHH) is to close with the loss of more than 1,000 jobs, owner Norwich Union has announced.

There will be 1,200 compulsory redundancies with a further 400 people likely to be redeployed to other Norwich Union operations.

HHH has branches in Brighton, Hove, Worthing, Crawley, Eastbourne and Horsham.

All will close over the next 12 months and about 60 jobs will go in Sussex.

The move comes two months after Norwich Union, which employs 1,500 people in Worthing, announced plans to cut 2,350 jobs nationally and "export" work to India.

HHH branches sell mainly car and home insurance on behalf of other insurers, a trend which has been in decline.

Norwich Union Insurance chief executive Patrick Snowball said the decision reflected changes in the way people now buy insurance.

He said: "Many customers shop around for the best deal. The number of customers who shop on the High Street to arrange their insurance has also fallen significantly as many prefer to deal directly with insurers by phone or over the internet."

Industry figures show 17 per cent fewer people used brokers to buy motor and home insurance in 2002 than in 2000.

Mr Snowball said: "Making decisions that affect our staff is always difficult, but we believe these changes are needed for us to remain competitive and adapt to changing market conditions."

The company will undertake a 90-day consultation programme with staff. Across the country 240 HHH branches and offices will close, including the head office in Bristol.

Norwich Union said about 400 of the 500 staff at head office would be subject to compulsory redundancies.

The company said it was also in talks to sell the commercial insurance division of HHH.

HHH was founded in 1959 by Arthur Holmes, who set up an insurance brokerage under the name Hill House. When Norwich Union took it over in 1991, HHH had a network of 133 branches.

Friday February 06, 2004