Job cuts as Northampton-based Travis Perkins tries to save £35m

Travis Perkins is the UK's biggest builder's merchant

A national builders' merchant has revealed it has axed jobs to cut costs - and more reductions are looming.

Travis Perkins has said most of the posts were lost from its Northampton headquarters and central support teams.

The firm declined to say how many jobs have gone, but indicated that its review of staffing was "ongoing".

It comes a year after Travis Perkins axed 400 jobs out of about 20,000 across the UK and shut 19 branches at the end of 2022.

The company said in October that it was set to post underlying earnings of £175m to £195m for 2023, down sharply on the £236m to £250m expected.

The actual figure for 2023 was £180m, down from £295m in 2022.

Job losses at the firm's Northampton headquarters are the "first steps" in a programme of planned changes

Travis Perkins said it was ramping up cost-cutting efforts to try to save about £35m a year, as trading was set to remain difficult in the year ahead.

A spokesperson said: "Given that market conditions are anticipated to remain subdued into 2024, management has accelerated plans to continue the transformation of the business.

"This work commenced in the fourth quarter with a reduction in central and regional headcount alongside efficiencies realised within the group's supply chain."

The firm was founded in London in 1797 and moved to Northampton in 1904.

Its head office has been located at the Lodge Way Industrial Estate near Duston, Northampton since 1980, which the firm refurbished in 2022 to create an open plan workspace.

It said at the time the work would "support over 700 colleagues" and help the company adapt to hybrid ways of working.

The firm also owns Toolstation, which has 400 branches including this one in Wellingborough

The firm added that the Northampton job cuts - along with some branch losses - represented "the first steps in a programme of planned changes to the group's operating model".

The changes "will focus on simplifying how its businesses interact with each other, reviewing the impact of loss-making activities and maximising the benefit of the group's collective scale", the company said.

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