Mexican company Cemex, the new owner of concrete company RMC, has made 750 former RMC staff redundant – more than 10% of its workforce

Cemex, the third biggest cement firm in the world, has made staff at all levels redundant. They are all former employers of RMC, which did employ 7000 people and is Cemex’ sole presence in the UK after its £2.3bn takeover of the company in March.

Cemex said it made the job cuts because it wanted to improve efficiency and bring the UK operation into line with how the company was run in Mexico.

It is the biggest single round of job lossses that the industry has suffered in two years. The former RMC staff were informed of the changes last Friday. Cemex made a presentation to analysts in New York on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for Cemex in the UK, said: “The company thought the UK business was underperforming and did a review of the cement, aggregates and ready-mix concrete businesses. It is now in consultation with the staff, which will be completed in October.”

Before the takeover, RMC operated as five regional divisions that were run autonomously, each with its own managing director. Cemex

plans to create seven separate regions but to bring them all under the charge of the UK president, Ignacio Ortiz, who joined Cemex in 1989. He was previously vice-president of Cemex’s Asia business. Ortiz reports to Fernando Gonzales, the European president.

The company thought the UK business was underperforming

Cemex spokesperson

The Mexican head office of Cemex wants to restructure the business so that IT is operated on a global level and human resources is handled at a country-by-country level.

Areas of the business that have not been affected are quarries, ready-mix concrete plants and surfacing. However, a spokesperson said a review was under way and that further job losses could not be ruled out.

The City was stunned by the price Cemex paid for RMC, describing it as a great deal for shareholders.

The takeover was the biggest undertaken by a Mexican firm. Cemex chose RMC because it had a good geographical fit. RMC operated in 22 countries, and the only overlap was in the USA and Spain.

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