Failing construction arm of Shepherd Group completes rescaling of its business
Shepherd Group has completed the restructuring of its construction arm by making 55 redundancies largely among back office staff.
The York-based group’s accounts published in December 2014 showed the company’s turnover fell to £686m in the year to 30 June 2014 from £748.3m the previous year. Pre-tax profit also fell to £11.4m from £13m over the period.
Shepherd chairman David Williams described the results of the group’s construction and engineering businesses at the time as “very disappointing”.
Shepherd Construction confirmed in April that it had begun a review of its business, and Shepherd Group’s chief executive Mark Perkins (pictured) said at the time that the board was reviewing the construction arm to “establish the right scale and platform for future growth”.
The review has now been completed, and a Shepherd spokesperson told Building: “Following a review of the Shepherd Construction business, along with its support service teams, a consultation process with employees has now concluded.
“As a result of this process we can confirm that we have made 37 compulsory redundancies, with an additional 18 employees taking voluntary redundancy.
“We are doing everything possible to prioritise the welfare of staff affected, and ensure our effectiveness as a leading built environment specialist.”
It was reported in March that Shepherd was in negotiations to sell its construction business to contractor Wates, however both firms have refused to confirm the story.
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