This week, Balfour Beatty announced the upcoming closure of its Doncaster, Dartford and Rochdale sites after warning that full year profits are unlikely to be impressive two months ago. The closures are expected to affect at least 150 workers, most of whom will have to find alternative employment.
In a statement to the press, the construction firm emphasised that all employees expected to suffer as a result of the closures have been kept firmly in the loop throughout the process.
It said; “At our location in Dartford we have advised employees of our proposal to close this location due to a combination of insufficient construction activity and a disproportionately high cost base.
“This could result in a small number of job losses and the relocation of individuals.
“We have also identified that two smaller locations, in Rochdale and Doncaster, are no longer sustainable and, again, employees have been advised of our proposal to close these offices.”
While the total number of redundancies has not been confirmed due to ongoing negotiations, the firm added it would “explore all available options for the redeployment of employees across the group.”
Unfortunately, it seems that the construction industry is in for a rocky few years yet. With the exception of London, commercial development is slow with many firms choosing to redevelop existing spaces rather than start a lengthy and expensive process to acquire new premises.
Balfour Beatty must now hope that new head of UK construction, Nick Pollard, will be able to attract a significant number of new contracts whilst simultaneously cutting costs in order to keep the business running profitably.
Sadly, with full-year profits in the UK arm expected to fall at least £50 million below forecasts at the beginning of the year, it seems Mr Pollard will face an uphill struggle until economic conditions improve sufficiently to encourage more speculative development.
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