THE Southampton office of insurance giant AXA is likely to escape a round of job losses under a restructuring and investment programme.

AXA, the UK's third largest general insurance company, is to invest £100m to develop its business over the next three years.

The company, which employs around 40 people in Southampton, aims to achieve 30 per cent sales revenue growth over the next three years. But during the same period it aims to reduce expenses by around one-fifth.

The focus will be on restructuring business operations, developing a stronger product and customer service proposition and delivering long-term profitability.

AXA's chief executive Peter Hubbard says: "Investment on this scale is a major vote of confidence in both our team and our UK operation.

"It will help us move forward positively to deliver our promises to customers and shareholders.

"The majority of the new investment will be focused on radically stream-

lining our business processes," added Mr Hubbard, who joined the company at the end of last year.

But it means jobs will be cut by around 20 per cent over the next three years, resulting in a loss of around 700 jobs over the next 12 months nation-wide.

The greatest impact of these job losses will be felt in Cardiff and Colchester.