Rolls-Royce has confirmed that 3,000 jobs will be lost in the UK, as part of reorganisation plans that will see its global workforce cut by up to one-fifth.
In May, the engineering giant announced that it was looking to cut 9,000 jobs globally, following a fall in demand for its aviation products due to coronavirus travel restrictions.
Some 1,500 of the redundancies will be made at the firm’s Derby site and 700 jobs will go at a Renfrewshire plant. Smaller scale losses are expected at sites in Lancashire, Solihull, Rotherham, Washington, Denby, Bristol, Ansty near Coventry and London Heathrow.
It has asked employees to in its civil aerospace division to consider taking voluntary redundancy, with the first of the redundancies expected to be made in July.
The Unite union said the voluntary severance scheme is hoped to reduce any future redundancies and “buy some time” for the company to “develop the plan B that our members and other stakeholders so desperately need”.
Meanwhile, The Restaurant Group, which owns brands including Frankie & Benny’s, Garfunkels and Chiquito, said as many as 120 restaurants would not reopen when the lockdown is lifted – putting around 3,000 jobs at risk.
In an email to managers this week, which was first seen by the BBC, it said: “Many sites are no longer viable to trade and will remain closed permanently.
“The Covid-19 crisis has significantly impacted our ability to trade profitably, so we have taken the tough decision to close these restaurants now.”
It currently has around 22,000 workers on furlough after its restaurants were forced to close in March.
It is understood that the closures will affect brands in its leisure division, which includes Frankie & Benny’s. The company also owns Wagamama, but this is not part of the leisure division.
One employee who works at Frankie & Benny’s told the BBC: “I’m angry, as they feel as though staff are disposable.
“I just can’t believe that they would send that kind of message to managers without any warning.”
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In March The Restaurant Group’s Tex-Mex dining chain Chiquito went into administration. It said 61 out of 80 Chiquito branches would remain closed.
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