Vinci IT restructure causes staff concern

Vinci's IT staff are worried that their jobs could be on the line after three senior managers were made redundant. Morale is "very low", according to sources.
However, Vinci chief operating officer David Joyce has denied there are any problems.
Redundancy notices have been handed out to: Allan Crawford, head of IT and strategy; Alan Harriss, head of business systems; and Gerry Charlesworth, who ran the business analysis IT division. Vinci said they have "gone to pursue other interests".
A source said: "The French parent group is not happy because in the UK Vinci's margins have not been good. There have been big increases in pension and insurance costs, so the strategy is to cut overheads in the UK where possible. IT is not a cost but an investment - yet it's so often the first thing to go."
A second source said: "Rumour has it that others may follow. The IT department's morale is very low, particularly in the data centre on Merseyside.
"There are a lot of 'temp' staff coming on board, mostly via consultancies. The big problem is that there is clearly something going on and in the absence of clear information there is
much concern."
Joyce denied that Vinci has a problem. "We have restructured the department. Everyone knows it. I informed them. I sent a memo on 15 July," he said.
Earlier this year Joyce called in Business Systems Group (BSG) and took its advice on reshaping the IT department.
"He could have asked us internally but didn't," a source said. "BSG hadn't been used by Vinci before; indeed, it had not been used in the construction
sector before.
"The upshot of the major review seemed to be that Joyce wanted BSG to manage the IT."
The new head of IT is Andrew Seaden. He is based in Vinci's head office in Watford. He arrived as a consultant with BSG before getting the offer of a permanent job in Vinci.
Joyce played down the degree to which BSG was invited to revamp the department. "This was only someone coming in and looking for a couple of weeks," he said. "There was no intention of outsourcing any IT. People should be more than happy and more than secure."