Persimmon closes North West subsidiary

Housebuilder Persimmon is to make 19 staff redundant with the closure of its Charles Church North West office in Sandbach, Cheshire.

The closure of the branch office of the upmarket subsidiary is among a wave of measures by the country's housing giants as they tackle tough market conditions.

David Broadbent, regional chairman of Persimmon Homes North West, said in a statement: "Charles Church North West and Persimmon Homes Mercia [also based in Sandbach] are to be merged into one company and regrettably, a number of redundancies are to be made across the two organisations. The 19 members of staff affected entered into a consultation process on Tuesday 15 January and we will be providing all the support required during this difficult time.

"The reorganisation reflects the challenging trading conditions experienced by both the housing industry and wider economy in recent months.

"In the meantime, it is very much business as usual in terms of volume of activity at our 17 sites across the region.

"Whilst this news is disappointing, and it is too early to predict how the market will develop over the next few months, we do not anticipate further redundancies in the near future. We remain confident that market activity will improve during the traditional spring selling period and would like to reassure our customers that they will continue to receive the best levels of service from Charles Church."

Rivals Taylor Wimpey, Barratt and Bellway have told suppliers they must cut prices by up to 5% to help fit the tightening market. Persimmon is closing further offices in East Yorkshire and the South East.