The job cuts, to be made across the firm's head office and regional operating divisions, come in response to a lower projected turnover of ВЈ260m for 2009/2010.
Shepherd blamed a slowdown in the market, combined with the salled Learning and Skills Council's college building programme. Shepherd Construction was lined up as a preferred bidder on a number of those schemes.
But it said that it had an "otherwise strong" orderbook for the rest of the financial year. It also announced that its Work Winning team and will shortly appoint a business director and divisional managing director for the South region.
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Allan McDougall, Shepherd Construction’s chief executive said: “These are tough times and have necessitated some very tough decisions being made, but we needed to re-align the business to ensure we remain strong in the light of the continued downturn in the construction market. We have always focussed on employing and developing the best people in the business and while it is regrettable we have to make some job cuts, this focus will remain.
“Our projected turnover has been significantly affected by funds drying up in the education sector’s college building programme. Not only had we been at preferred contractor stage for projects at Peterborough, Telford and Bradford, but we had been actively tendering for a number of other college projects for which funding has now dried up.
“Importantly, Shepherd Construction remains one of the most financially strong construction companies in the UK today. Not only has Shepherd been financially rated in the top 2% of construction companies by Dun and Bradstreet, but our parent company, Shepherd Building Group made a pre-tax profit of £22.9 million last year.
“The restructuring will ensure the company has the best foundations on which to grow rapidly once the economy improves. One of our strengths has always been that we have expertise across a number of sectors and we will continue to maintain a balance of work in each, including health, education and leisure.
“As part of our drive to ensure our business is fit for the future, the Shepherd Way, which is designed to eliminate any wastage and inefficiency during the build process will be embedded even deeper into the company.”
