Oxfordshire printers BGP propose pay cut

Staff at an Oxfordshire printing firm are to be consulted on cutting their pay by between 10 and 20%.

Bicester-based BGP employs 550 staff across three sites and is part of the Goodhead Group owned by Reading FC chairman Sir John Madejski.

BGP chairman David Holland said falling market prices meant the firm needed to make savings of £2m.

Union Unite called the company's plans a "hammer blow to the 550 staff who have made BGP the success it is today".

A consultation will start on Tuesday on the potential cuts, which BGP said was the alternative to making redundancies.

Unite national officer Steve Sibbald said the union was "vehemently opposed to these pay cuts, especially as it only recently reported how well it has been performing, bucking the trend in the industry".

Mr Holland said prices for magazine and catalogue printing had been reduced "by a third over the last five years" due to the recession and over-capacity in the market.

He added he himself had already taken a pay cut.

The firm was founded in 1973.