Wolseley to make 200 former Burdens staff redundant

LEAMINGTON Spa building materials firm Wolseley is understood to be planning around 200 redundancies in the Burdens business it bought for £30m last year.

Wolseley bought 22 sites from the drainage and civil engineering supplier before the rest of Stoke-based Burdens went into administration.

The deal saw 554 Burdens staff transfer over to Wolseley.

The firm has now launched a consultation with staff over job losses.

The news follows Wolseley revealing solid but unspectacular half year results yesterday.

Europe continues to underperform for the firm and it is now attempting to dispose of building materials units in the South of France.

Chief executive Ian Meakins said: “We faced substantial headwinds in Europe, and are taking appropriate actions to protect profitability.”