Axe hangs over 200 staff at Bovis Lend Lease

Bovis Lend Lease is understood to have put up to 200 staff on notice of redundancy as the impact of the drop in commercial work bites the construction firm.

Sources close to the firm stressed that the move was part of a legal process and did not necessarily mean that that number of staff would lose their jobs; however, the move is evidence that the global financial turmoil is starting to hit major contractors.

It is understood that the firm has been particularly suffering in its UK Southern business, which is involved in the 2012 athletes' village project. The division focuses its work around key developers, including Land Securities and Stanhope, all of which have been affected by the credit crunch.