UK contractor Galliford Try has said it will close much of its business in Scotland, putting some 350 jobs in danger.
The decision follows a profit warning in April that revealed it was likely to report a £40m hit from restructuring costs and loss-making projects.
The biggest single loss came from the £1.4bn Queensferry Crossing project (pictured). Another problem was the £745m Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, which has suffered cost overruns of £143m.
Galliford Try has begun a review of its business, which will aim to focus the company’s activities on sectors where it is most competitive and which have the greatest growth potential.
A spokesperson told the BBC yesterday (30 April): “Today we have announced to our employees the proposals emanating from that review which will involve the proposed closure of parts of the division, with potentially some job losses involved.
“The major part of the proposed reorganisation will potentially see the infrastructure business unit in Scotland be closed. It is a matter of record that for some time our business has sustained considerable losses on two major infrastructure projects within Scotland.”
She added that Galliford Try was “fully committed” to its building operations for Morrison Construction in Scotland.
Chief executive Grahame Barn said: “We are extremely saddened by the job losses announced after what has been an extremely challenging time for the Scottish civils sector, particularly for contractors working on public infrastructure projects.”
The company has entered into consultation with staff who are likely to be affected by the decision.
Image: The Queensferry Crossing near Edinburgh (Arup)
Further reading:
Comments
Comments are closed.
I spent the final 23 years of my career with Morrison Construction in Scotland, during which I was involved in the growth of the company which profitably delivered a substantial amount of infrastructure in Scotland from contracts large and small.
While accepting that the Queensferry Crossing and the AWPR cost the Group substantial amounts of loss, there are still business opportunities in Scotland in the dualling of the A9. These contracts are of a size well within the capability of the core of excellent staff. They did it before, let them do it again.