15,000 Consignia jobs to go in Britain, says New Chairman
The new chief of Consignia in Britain today announced a fresh round of postal job cuts which will bring the total to 15,000 - with the threat of more redundancies to come.
Allan Leighton, on his first day as chariman, accepted the cuts within the struggling Parcelforce Worldwide business would have a huge impact on workers’ families. And he warned there could be further cuts in the future, including the closure of post offices, as Consignia focused on the future of Royal Mail in England.
But he said it was time to rescue the country’s postal network, currently losing £1.5m (€2.4m) a day, rather than find people to blame for its financial decline.
Today’s job cuts, made up of 6,700 workers from Parcelforce and 2,500 from Consignia’s transport network, are in addition to 4,500 job losses announced earlier in the year, giving a total figure of around 15,000.
Mr Leighton said: ‘‘This is my first day in the business and it is a very sad day. The number 15,000 trips off the tongue but I multiply that by 10 when you take all the workers’ families and communities into account.
‘‘How we got to this point is irrelevant. Everyone can blame everyone else but it is time to move on.
‘‘The most important thing is how to get out of this situation and how to make this postal service the best in the world.’’
