I’m starting to feel sorry for these guys now!! When will the doom and gloom end for Anlian Home Improvements and more importantly how will it end, owned by the banks, cutting more staff, not paying the sales guys, customer confidence at an all time low (well I can only say for Wales).
These guys are certainly taking a battering and if it wasn’t for the amount of money they are into the banks for I think they would of gone into liquidation long ago.
But I really do feel sorry for the workers the guys that I have spoken to over the last few months are genuine guys who just want to make a living, and all of their jobs are in the firing line.
So in a way I want to say come on Anglian get it right!!!! And on the other hand……………………..
“Workers at city home improvements company Anglian Group are waiting on tenterhooks as talks continue over 94 planned redundancies.
Bosses at the company, which employs 810 in its manufacturing division in Norwich, announced the cuts in August, and while the firm is still seeking volunteers it is likely that many of the job losses will be compulsory redundancies.
A selection process to decide which staff are set to go is continuing and the first jobs to go could be announced by the end of the month.
In February it appeared Anglian workers in Norwich had been spared in an earlier round of redundancies in which 165 jobs were cut when a factory closed in Rochdale, Lancashire.
The company blamed both rounds of job losses on a downturn in consumer spending.
It is still unclear how many compulsory redundancies there will be in Norwich.
A spokeswoman for Anglian Home Improvements said: “The consultation process continues and the request for voluntary redundancies is ongoing. Therefore, we do not yet have a final figure regarding voluntary versus compulsory numbers.”
Union officials are continuing talks with company bosses, but Ivan Mercer, regional organiser for the GMB union, said it appeared the company was doing it all it could to avoid compulsory redundancies.
Mr Mercer added: “The company is asking for volunteers to come forward for redundancies. The redundancy criteria have been agreed and the company is provisionally selecting for redundancies.
“The company is doing as much as it can to mitigate compulsory redundancies but at the end of the day I am sure there are going to be an amount of compulsory redundancies.”
The company, which makes and fits conservatories, doors and windows, is not the first to be hit in the city with about 400 redundancies announced at Bowater Home Improvements – which traded as Zenish Staybrite – lost their jobs when the company went into administration in January.
Yesterday construction firm RG Carter announced plans for 97 redundancies among construction and joinery workers in Drayton.
Have you been made redundant at a Norwich firm or is your company expecting job cuts? Call Evening News business reporter Sam Williams on 01603 772447 or e-mail sam.williams@archant.co.uk”
Source: Evening News 24
Well,
Let’s make no bones about this- the market is tough out there at the minute for everyone. The financial turmoil is proving somewhat of a pain as less lending, higher mortgage rates, inflation and fuel costs take their toll. And I’m not just talking about our industry – it’s affecting a lot of the retail sector. People are a little jumpy when it comes to big value purchases at the moment – take new car sales for instance – down 21% on the same time last year.
All this means, slightly less orders – especially on non-essential luxury purchases such as conservatories, which is where Anglian have seen some downturn. This has meant that the conservatory side of the business has been slower and some allowances for this have to be made for this in terms of staffing. And as unfortunate as it is for those affected it makes the most business sense.
Besides – this announcement was made several months ago – the only reason it has been “resurrected” in local press is the very loose connection to the fact that RG carter (a local construction firm) also announced reduncies recently in the same area of Norfolk.
Tarquin