A PRIZE draw aimed at “spreading happiness” for thousands of Norwich Union customers has been branded “crass and insensitive” by union leaders in York.

An email competition sent out to thousands of Norwich Union customers in York and across the country entitled “Happy’s Back – so why not spread a little happiness” has enraged union officials coming, as it does, in the wake of last week’s announcement that the company could shed 500 jobs in the city.

The competition encourages customers to upload a photo of a friend or family member on to a website and write a short piece about why they deserve to win.

The nominated person then stands a chance of winning a dream holiday worth £4,000, courtesy of Norwich Union.

Andy Case, national secretary of the Unite union, said: “To run an advert like this, especially in the York area at this time, is inappropriate in the extreme.

“I imagine that a number of our members whose jobs are now at risk would be grateful of the opportunity to be able to afford a holiday, let alone a dream holiday like this.

“I’m not sure there is really that much call in the area at the moment for happiness and this is a bit like rubbing people’s noses in it.”

But a spokesman for the company refuted the allegation that the adverts were insensitive and said that there had been no complaints from staff within the company.

He said the adverts were part of a national advertising campaign called “Quote Me Happy”, which was planned months in advance of the York redundancies announcement.

The Press revealed last week how up to 500 jobs at Monks Cross are going because of decisions to outsource the work of two key departments to the Scottish Friendly group in Glasgow, and International Financial Data Services (IFDS), based in Basildon.

The insurance giant said it is outsourcing two key departments based at the company’s Monks Cross offices, where 750 staff are employed.

The Press revealed in June how our sources believed hundreds of jobs were to go, though Norwich Union insisted no decision had been made. Now it has confirmed about 300 York people who work in Lifetime wrap – an IT system which allows customers to look online at their Norwich Union products – and another 200 working in collective investments will be affected.

A spokesman for Norwich Union, said: “Norwich Union employs 30,000 in the country and we are talking about a maximum of 500 jobs over a number of years.

“We are looking to do our best to redeploy these employees at some time in the future. I don’t think the adverts are insensitive at all, we have had no negative feedback from staff.”