Consignia ready to cut 30,000 jobs in attempt to stem losses

Consignia is today expected to give details of its plans to restructure its postal business, which could lead to up to 30,000 job losses.

Allan Leighton, the temporary chairman of Consignia who is to take on the role full-time, is expected to present the case for cutting 11,000 jobs today. The Parcelforce business, which is losing £15m a month, is expected to bear the brunt of the cuts, but administration and management jobs are also thought to have been earmarked.

Consignia, the renamed Post Office, is expected to set aside hundreds of millions of pounds for severance payments to those of the 200,000 workforce who will go. Most of the job losses are likely to be voluntary.

The BBC reported last night that as many as 40,000 jobs could go over the next three years.

Consignia reported a loss of £281m for the six months to 31 October and closed 500 post offices out of the 18,000-strong network last year.

In January, The Independent revealed that the Government was preparing to close up to 3,000 urban post offices in a huge programme of cutbacks.