Following a consultation process, Burnley-based uPVC window system company VEKA plc has confirmed that 25 jobs have been made redundant.
The effects of the pandemic having resulted in the business failure of two important customers for the company, its management team had felt forced to review their ongoing staff requirements to reflect the loss of business.
David Jones, Managing Director of VEKA plc, said: “Having started the process on Monday 15th June, establishing an employee-elected committee responsible for taking group redundancy consultations, we have followed it to its conclusion.
“Fortunately, throughout the process, working with our committee, we were able to reduce the impact from an estimated redundancy of 78 roles to 25. This equates to 6.5% of our workforce and reflects the new scale of the business.”
Conducting the process in an ever-changing environment resulted in VEKA plc taking a phased approach to the redundancies. Phase one redundancies represented short/medium-term relief from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and have now been completed.
Phase two roles were those roles that were dependent on seeing positive sales upturn in July; focussing specifically on the operational needs of the business to support the manufacturing demand. Due to a strong result in July and a more positive overall industry outlook in the coming months, VEKA plc will no longer proceed with Phase 2 redundancies.
As a family business and as part of their S.P.I.R.I.T. values, VEKA plc will support those affected by redundancy by offering outplacement support and extending wellbeing packages for a number of months following each individuals’ leave date. The company also ensured that those employees managing the redundancy process were fully trained to undertake the consultations.
“This isn’t the first time that VEKA plc had to make some tough decisions in order to weather a storm and I recognise that COVID-19 continues to impact communities and may, in turn, have further impact on business.
“Although I’m saddened that this has resulted in losing valued employees, by adapting and acting responsibly to ensure the sustainable success of the business, VEKA plc is not just here for now, but for the future and for life.” continued Jones.
