Pace jobs to go in pounds 5m cost cuts

Pace Micro Technology, which makes decoders for satellite television, is preparing to make 150 employees redundant as part of a cost-cutting programme which will slash pounds 5m from its annual cost base.

The company has started talks with employee representatives about the move, which would reduce its workforce by 15 per cent. About 90 of the redundancies are likely to fall in the UK. A final decision will be made in February.

Malcolm Miller, Pace's newly appointed chief executive, decided to act after the company last month unveiled a disastrous pounds 11.8m interim operating loss. The shortfall was the result of falling profit margins on the company's decoders and a pounds 10m provision to cover legal claims and stock write-offs.

- Peter Thal Larsen