Buyout of rival builder Wilson Bowden leads Barratt Developments to axe 400 jobs

Housebuilder Barratt Developments will shed up to 400 jobs in the wake of its £2.2bn purchase of rival, Wilson Bowden, which took place on 26 April.

The Leicestershire and Newcastle head offices of both firms may close, while Barratt said it planned to consult on the closure of nine divisional offices.

The restructuring process will see the likely loss of 400 jobs out of a total 7,500-strong UK workforce, with 44 divisions being merged into 35. “Where possible, redundancies will be minimised through natural staff turnover and redeployment,” Barratt said in a statement.

The non-executive directors of Wilson Bowden have resigned, and the executive directors, with the exception of Nick Richardson, will follow suit. The board of Barratt Developments will remain unchanged.

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Mark Clare, chief executive of Barratt, said: “It is always regrettable to have to announce redundancies but we have acted swiftly to remove the uncertainty employees have inevitably faced. We will do everything we can to ensure that we integrate the businesses as quickly and as smoothly as possible.”