Shepherd Group in York sheds 60 more jobs (From York Press)

Shepherd Group in York sheds 60 more jobs

9:57am Friday 22nd May 2009 in News By Ron Godfrey

A NEW wave of redundancies has hit the recession-hit Shepherd Group in York.

Shocked staff at Shepherd Construction were yesterday told this time jobs were going from their division which is based in Fulford Road.

As some staff remain to be informed about who will be made redundant, Shepherd Construction has not yet revealed how many jobs are affected, but it is understood about 60 posts across the board would be involved.

This is the second time the jobs axe has fallen on a company within the Shepherd Group in York this year.

In February, The Press reported 80 redundancies from Portakabin out of the 700 working at its headquarters in Huntington because of the large-scale downturn in the construction industry and a decline in demand for modular factory-made buildings.

Last year the company, backed by a trade union, downed tools three days early for an enforced Christmas holiday in order to combat the lean times.

A spokeswoman for Shepherd Construction said: “We can confirm that we are entering a period of consultation with staff at our head office in Fulford Road as we look to reduce our overheads to meet a shortfall in our projected turnover due to the current challenging economic conditions that our industry is facing.”

The action taken by Shepherd Construction has triggered sympathetic statements from business leaders in York.

Susie Cawood, leader of the York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “We know it was a decision that Shepherd could not have taken lightly because it is a responsible and important York employer and one of our biggest in the private sector.

“We recognise the difficulties faced by the construction industry at the moment. We know it is horrible news for those who work there, but we can only hope that they are able to make these cuts through voluntary redundancies or natural wastage.

“Shepherd is one of the contractors working on the massive expansion at Heslington East for the University of York, so what happens to them is hugely important to us.”