Help-Link sheds 60 jobs
BOILER and central heating business Help-Link has axed 60 jobs, two years after an £11m investment from private equity firm NorthEdge Capital.
The Leeds-based business said that 60 of its 459-strong national workforce lost their jobs shortly before Christmas and confirmed that further redundancies could be made.
A spokeswoman said: “The management team at Help-Link is currently in consultation with employees and therefore cannot pre-determine the outcome of the consultation at this stage.”
“Help-Link continues to respect employees during this period and all actions taken are in accordance with proper HR practices,” she added.
Help-Link said it is addressing issues around the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), which places legal obligations on the larger energy suppliers to deliver energy efficiency measures to domestic energy users.
The spokeswoman said: “Help-Link is addressing issues which have arisen over the planned timing of the arrival of anticipated volumes for the next round of ECO and with the delay in the planned completion of this next round of ECO to March 2017, announced last year.
“Help-Link had committed significant investment in the people and infrastructure required to deliver contracts with the required volumes on the original timetable and is taking proactive measures to ensure that it remains flexible enough to adjust to unexpected changes in the marketplace.”
In 2013, NorthEdge Capital invested £11m for a significant stake in Help-Link.
Last April, Help-Link acquired the home insulation installation and contracting business Miller Pattison from listed building products distributor SIG.
It said the deal formed “a key part” in its plans for the future and saw it take on Miller Pattison’s network of 11 branches across the UK, its fleet of vehicles and 300 strong workforce.
