Rugby cuts jobs to save pounds 15m

RUGBY, the building materials group, is planning to cut jobs in its joinery division in an attempt to reduce costs and boost the profitability of the troubled business, the company said yesterday.

The unit, which makes doors and windows, was the subject of a sweeping restructuring last year following the acquisition of rival Boulton & Paul. More than 350 workers were made redundant, leaving around 2,700 people in six plants across the country.

Peter Johnson, chief executive of Rugby, said that the number of future redundancies would be much smaller. "We are trying to reduce fixed costs. Inevitably there will be a continuous process of reduction in the number of people employed," he said.

The restructuring was set to deliver cost-savings of pounds 15m by year-end, he said.

His comments came after the joinery unit posted a 40 per cent fall in interim operating profit to pounds 2.5m, hit by the strength of sterling and the loss of a major order.

The Rugby group reported a 7.9 per cent advance in pre-tax profit to pounds 35.2m on sales down 4 per cent to pounds 511.2m.

Seperately, Caradon announced yesterday that it planned to sell its UK joinery division, lintels business and pipes division, representing annual sales of pounds 182m. The company reported a fall in interim profits to pounds 72m from pounds 74m in 1997.