Job losses at Construction Confederation, body to wind down

Job cuts are set to leave the Construction Confederation (CC) with a skeleton staff by the New Year, heralding the winding down of what was once seen as a single unified voice of construction.

CJ understands that just three or four employees will remain by the end of the Christmas holiday. It was thought to employ a workforce of around 30 people a year ago.

In a written statement the CC said: "The CC is in consultation with a number of staff, who may face redundancy at the end of the year, but we will be making no press comments whilst these consultations are ongoing."

The future of the CC has been in doubt ever since July's announcement that the Major Contractors Group (MCG) and the National Contractors Federation (NCF), two of the CC's six members, would cease to exist from June 2009.

The announcement coincided with news that the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) would launch a super-body of 24 construction bosses called the Construction Council which will lobby on industry issues.

In addition to the MCG and NCF's departures, CC chief executive Stephen Ratcliffe confirmed that a third member, the British Woodworking Federation has resigned its membership which will cease at the end of 2009.

Meanwhile the National Federation of Builders (NFB) has begun a process of asking its members if they wish to remain in the organisation.

The Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) and the Scottish Building Federation have not started the same process.

When asked if the departures mean that the CC, once the pan-industry umbrella body for contractors, is now effectively defunct, Ratcliffe said: "Four out of six members have either embarked upon a process or are in the process of severing links with the confederation, so you can drawn your own conclusions from that."

Ratcliffe declined to comment on whether his own job was under threat, but he is thought likely to remain over the next year to tie up loose ends at the body, one of which is its under-funded pension scheme.

"It is a closed scheme but there is a deficit and that deficit will need to be dealt with," he said.

Commenting on the news CECA director Rosemay Beales said: "It is not right to assume there is no longer any role for the Construction Confederation while important parts of its function still need to be carried out, but it faces a potentially limited future in its current form as a result of the decision to wind up the Major Contractors Group and the National Contractors Federation.

"There is no doubt that CECA will continue to provide leadership and representation on behalf of our members and these together with the services we provide will be unaffected by any changes to the CC. Change at that level is an opportunity for CECA, which we are already pursuing, to refresh and reform alliances across the industry among like likeminded groups who want to promote the benefits of a vibrant civil engineering sector."

Scottish Building Federation chief executive Michael Levack said: "Talk of the Construction Confederation's demise is a little presumptuous. We remain committed to a united industry. We are loyal members and will remain so."