Sutcliffe staff axed as Granada gets ready for growth

By David Shrimpton

Granada Food Services has culled 40 staff at subsidiary Sutcliffe Catering in a move described as "bloody" by one insider.

The sackings came as Sutcliffe cut its regional divisions from 11 to eight. Among the jobs axed were three regional managing director's posts and other senior managers. Further redundancies came in regional accounts departments and telephone sales. One woman was said to be celebrating 20 years with the company on the day she received her redundancy notice.

Granada Food Services managing director Alastair Storey said the reorganisation was needed because of the firm's rapid growth. "We have got another couple of things coming up over the horizon. We need to make sure we are geared up for that and get the right people in the right places," he said.

Although Storey declined to elaborate, industry insiders believe Granada may be about to acquire the 49% stake in Post Office caterer Quadrant, put up for sale last year. The purchase of another medium-sized contractor is also rumoured. Granada may have reasoned that it needs to off-load some staff if it is about to inherit another firm's workforce.

Storey pointed out that Granada Food Services employed 38,000 people, an increase of more than 3,000 on last year. It had also won 225 contracts since last October. "Turnover is growing by in excess of £100m per annum. You can't predict exactly where contracts land geographically and you have to adjust the shape of your business accordingly," he said.

Although Storey added that the move was not primarily a cost-cutting exercise, industry insiders predicted it could save the firm more than £1.2m a year.

The shake-up could be extended to other contract caterers acquired by Granada in the past few years, including Baxter & Platts, CCG and Shaw Catering. "Some have been very successful, others may need support in a different way," said Storey.