Jobs go fromhousebuilder
THE housebuilding arm of a North-east construction group has announced it is shedding up to 50 jobs as the economic downturn takes its toll.
Darlington-based Dunelm Homes, owned by the Esh Group in Bowburn, said its hand had been forced by “challenging” trading conditions, declining confidence and a slowdown in housing sales.
Despite revealing strong financial and production results for 2007 - which saw 264 units built in the year - the company said a necessary restructuring of the business would involve redundancies.
Chairman Austin Donohoe said he had confidence in the long-term strength of the housing market, even though it was a case of “battening down the hatches” in preparation for a tough time during the rest of this year.
He said the group would be better placed to ride out the tough conditions due to the diversity of its operations and its ability to take advantage of future improvements in the market.
Dunelm is not the first housebuilder to suffer the effects of the economic downturn, which has seen Barratt and Persimmon and Wimpey all announce job losses.
Data published today by Nationwide revealed declining confidence nationally among consumers and firms in the service sector.
Its Consumer Confidence Index fell by 11 points to 51 in July, the biggest drop since the index started in 2004.
The Nationwide said gloomy economic data, falls in house prices, job losses and more increases in the cost of living contributed to the fall.
These factors will be discussed this week by the Bank of England, as it grapples with slowing economic growth and rising inflation, which is almost double its target of 2%.
