Forte in row over job cuts at Méridien

Forte executive chairman Sir Rocco Forte faces a legal challenge to the job cuts currently being instigated at Méridien's headquarters in Paris.

The Méridien works council is claiming that when Sir Rocco launched his bid for Méridien, he publicly declared that the company's head office would be preserved and there would be minimal job losses.

According to the works council, 70 out of 107 staff are affected by Forte's reorganisation, and it has persuaded the tribunal judge to ask Forte for further information.

But a spokeswoman for the British group claimed many of those affected by the changes were being found alternative jobs within Forte's French operations, resulting in a net loss in jobs of just 37.