Shepherd Construction has dismissed rumours that it is to close its London office and pull out of contracting in the capital after it made five redundancies.
A spokesperson said the losses were due to restructuring at the privately owned company.

She said that Shepherd had been split into two arms focusing on the east and west of the country.

The spokesperson said: "There was a handful of redundancies made at the Langley office in Hertfordshire resulting from the restructuring."

She said Shepherd was committed to working in the capital, and that in the financial year starting 1 July it had secured £35m of work in London and the South-east.

An industry insider there had been speculation among the firm's employees that it was about to close its Langley office and stop all work in London.

The insider said speculation had been fuelled by the departure of Gordon Ray, Shepherd's former director in London and the South-east. He said: "There's uncertainly in the London division, probably caused by the redundancies."