May Gurney makes 56 workers redundant

May Gurney has made 56 workers redundant following a 30-day consultation.

The move is thought to affect employees working in the company's civil engineering and private housing divisions.

The cut is the equivalent of around 1% of its 5,000-strong workforce.

Chief executive Philip Fellowes-Prynne said: "It is with regret we have had to reduce the workforce in this small part of our overall business. We have worked hard to minimise the impact on those affected by offering redeployment where possible and outplacement support services.

"Over the last eight years, we have transformed May Gurney so that today, more than 90% of our business is for local government and regulated industry sectors in long-term maintenance, enhancement and support contracts on the UK's highways, rail and utilities networks. While these sectors continue to be resilient to the effects of the current economic downturn, the same cannot be said for the private-sector housing and civil engineering market. We took the difficult decision to propose a reduction in our activities in these specialist areas."