George Wimpey Bristol warns subcontractors that work will halt unless they slash prices

A Taylor Wimpey subsidiary company has sent letters to its subcontractors demanding they cut costs on existing orders by 20%.

The letter from George Wimpey Bristol contains the heading Cost Reductions 鈥撯�淥ur Futures鈥�, and warns that without the reductions, work will stop completely.

Commercial director Jason Wren writes: 鈥淓very build release and site start must be supported by cost reductions, and our requirement is 20% off all current orders.

鈥淯nless this situation is taken extremely seriously and acted upon swiftly there is every possibility that sites will grind to a halt鈥hich would not benefit either of us.鈥�

Unless this situation is taken extremely seriously and acted upon swiftly there is every possibility that sites will grind to a halt

Jason Wren, commercial director, George Wimpey Bristol

Subcontractors are required to respond by 19 January, with the letter also containing the warning: 鈥淚t is with you that we would like to continue trading but that can only be after careful consideration.鈥�

Chief executive of the National Specialist Contractors Council Suzannah Nichol labelled the demands as 鈥渉orrifying鈥�, with contractors margins having already been squeezed.

Taylor Wimpey has suffered from the economic downturn and subsequent house building slump. It has debts of nearly 拢2bn and has cut almost 2,000 jobs.

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