Jobs blow to sports centre staff (From York Press)

Jobs blow to Abbey Leisure Centre staff

9:28am Thursday 30th August 2012 in News By Dan Bean, dan.bean@thepress.co.uk

MORE than half of the employees of the former Abbey Leisure Centre could be made redundant, six months after the building was devastated by fire.

The building has been empty since the blaze in February, and Selby District Council and the Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust, which runs the site, were determined staff would be redeployed.

However, it was announced this week that 30 of the 58 staff positions could be lost, and formal consultations had begun between WLCT and the employees.

A spokesman for WLCT said: “Although we have worked hard to put in place a quality sport and leisure offer, we have been unable to replicate the range of leisure services held in a complex as large as Abbey. It is with great sadness that because of this fire WLCT is, therefore, no longer able to operate with the same number of posts that it did before the fire.

“A total of 30 out of 58, casual and full-time posts, have been identified as at risk of redundancy. As part of this formal consultation process WLCT will do everything it can to work with Selby District Council and other local businesses to help staff find new opportunities.”

The spokesman said staff would have the opportunity to apply for early retirement or voluntary redundancy, and to apply for positions in other areas where WLCT operates, including Wigan.

Coun Gillian Ivey, deputy leader of the council, said: “Of course, nobody wants anybody to lose their job, and this is a horrible thing that has happened, which could not have been foreseen.

“Both the council and the Trust have insurance which covers us to keep going for a certain length of time, and we have done everything we can to get people gainfully employed, but I do see this as the process and I don’t believe that all the people who have received those notices will lose their jobs.

“In fact, I hope that very few do, and with the plans that we will be announcing in October, we would hope to address this.”