Request has provoked disquiet among staff in north told to work on firm鈥檚 London jobs citing work-life balance issues
Laing O鈥橰ourke has admitted some staff may need to work further from home under a shake-up of the company which is seeing 200 jobs go at the firm鈥檚 UK construction business.
黑洞社区 understands plans to send some of the firm鈥檚 staff in the north, especially those based in and around Manchester, down to its jobs in London, including the mixed-use Olympia development, has caused disquiet.
The firm鈥檚 big job in Manchester, called the Factory, is due to officially wrap up this September with seats going in ahead of a soft opening in the next few weeks, while hopes of the contractor transferring staff a few miles across the city to Manchester City鈥檚 Etihad stadium expansion have ended after the pair failed to agree a price.
One source said: 鈥淭here鈥檚 a big crew up north and O鈥橰ourke is looking to send them down to Olympia or the Whiteley [the shopping centre being turned into another mixed-use job]. Some staff are being told they鈥檝e got to go but people have reset the clock in terms of work-life balance since the pandemic.鈥�
An O鈥橰ourke spokesperson said: 鈥淟ike any constructor, we are also managing the ebb and flow of people moving from projects that are nearing completion to new ones that are starting up. This may require some people to work further from home but it will mean the opposite for others and these opportunities are discussed with people on an individual basis.鈥�
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The firm confirmed that up to 200 jobs were at risk despite suggestions the number could be higher. She added: 鈥淲e have begun consulting on proposals to reduce the number of roles in UK business by up to 200. This is necessary because the market has weakened and we need to reduce our operating costs.鈥�
One source said O鈥橰ourke had missed out on the Manchester City job because its risk procedures were now too tight in the wake of huge losses overseas in Canada and Australia.
O鈥橰ourke built the original stadium, when it was known as Laing more than 20 years ago, and carried out work to expand the ground to its current 54,000 capacity nearly nine years ago.
鈥淭hat [City] job was theirs but they鈥檝e burnt their fingers so much overseas that their risk procedure is at an extreme. They鈥檙e pretty intransigent on price. Contractors should be paid for risk but you have to take that risk in the first place.鈥�
In its last set of accounts, the firm鈥檚 Australia business racked up a near 拢76m bill on one scheme which helped send pre-tax profit tumbling to just 拢2.7m on turnover of 拢2.9bn in the year to March 2022.
The company said that cumulative losses on a PFI hospital scheme in Canada had gone up again 鈥� to more than 拢219m 鈥� meaning that between them the two jobs, including lawyers鈥� fees, have cost the company more than 拢300m.
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