More jobs go at shop fitters Nuttall's amid plan to sell off Dudley site

It comes after the Alan Nuttall Partnership, which has its biggest manufacturing operation, in Hall Street, Dudley, made 170 redundancies last year.

The latest job losses, which take effect on January 13, mainly affect manufacturing but are across the business including office staff and some group positions covering both Dudley and the head office in Hinckley.

Matt Hornblower, who is chief executive of store fitting and project solutions, said the company was upset to announce redundancies.

But he said it would be carrying out a pay review for remaining staff in April and had paid a £400 bonus to all employees in November to thank them for efforts during this year.

Mr Hornblower said that the November to January period was the quietest time of the year and the redundancies were aimed at reducing cost and adapting to a news sales strategy. The business is also looking at a new strategic partnership with local suppliers.

Mr Hornblower added that the seven-acre Dudley site was being put up for sale with property consultancy CBRE.

"We are restructuring to ensure we remain competitive and are more agile as a business," he explained.

The redundancies will leave the number employed at Dudley at 135.

A number of applications for voluntary redundancy have already been accepted.

The business will make a profit of around £500,000 this year after losses amounting to £8 million over 2016 to 2018.

"If we hadn’t made the changes we made last year then we would not be in business today so to achieve a return to profitability is a fantastic achievement by all those involved," said Mr Hornblower.

He said any move out of Hall Street was unlikely within the next two years.

Alan Nuttall had been looking at finding alternative premises in the area for the last decade and was talking with a few people about suitable units.

"The building we have is inefficient and too big in size now for us," he explained.

CBRE, which has an office in Birmingham, will be applying for outline planning permission for re-development of the site and identifying potential buyers.

The Dudley factory, originally built in 1914 for munitions production and later used to make the famous Bean cars and for CWS shelving manufacturing, houses the wood shop, press shop, laser cutting, welding and paint shop as well as warehousing.

It became part of Alan Nuttall in 1986 when the store fitting manufacturing division was established.

The Hall Street site has nearly a million sq ft of manufacturing and warehousing space.