Construction company to axe 30 more jobs

May 29 2008 by Alex Turner, Liverpool Daily Post

CONSTRUCTION and property group David McLean is to make 30 staff redundant, as it reorganises the group for the second time in six months.

The Deeside firm, which employs more than 300 people, blamed wide-spread problems in the housing market for the latest job cuts. In Decem-ber, about 50 jobs were axed, mainly in the contracting and retail divisions, a move that was also blamed on the credit crunch.

It is expected that this time the jobs will mainly go from the homes divi-sion, which has four regional offices, includ-ing Preston Brook, near Runcorn.

A spokesman said: “In response to the widely-reported issues within the financial arena and its inevitable impact on the housing market being experienced by the whole industry, we are propos-ing a re-organisation of the business in order to realise significant savings and thereby ensure the group's long-term success.

“The proposals would result in a restructure of the group, and in particu-lar the homes division, and approximately 30 redundancies across the various group companies.

“We must take these steps now to ensure that we operate in the most efficient way possible in order to maintain our position of strength.”

Consultations with staff are ongoing and the company said they would also try to find alternative jobs within the group for some of the employees affected by the cutback.

Established in 1972 in North Wales, David McLean has grown to be one of the largest privately-owned development and construction businesses in the country with a turnover of nearly £250m.

The firm is particularly active in Liverpool, where it is part of a joint venture to develop the former Garden Festival site at Otterspool and is building apartments at Kings Waterfront.

alex.turner