Atkins' redundancies 'not linked to takeover'

As the SNC Lavalin’s (SNCL) multi-billion pound takeover of Atkins completed today, news emerged that a redundancy process affecting nearly 200 design staff at the UK firm was underway.

According to sources within Atkins, 186 design staff across the company’s UK operation have been notified that they would be put under a consultation process, with a view to 92 of them being made redundant following the takeover, with the deal prompting the move.

A spokesman for Atkins confirmed the 92 jobs would go but denied a link between the takeover and the redundancy plan. In a statement it said: “We continually assess our UK markets and are now seeing increasing uncertainty and more challenging conditions. 

“Unfortunately, after careful consideration, we have had to take the difficult decision to make 92 roles redundant in our UK infrastructure division’s building design practice. 

“This is not connected to the SNCL takeover and we will seek to redeploy as many people as possible to other roles.”

SNC tabled its recommended bid, valuing Atkins at around £2.1bn, in April. The proposed deal was overwhelmingly supported by shareholders last month.

Atkins announced today that its shares were being de-listed from the London Stock Excgange and that its chairman Allan Edward Cook and chief executive Uwe Krueger had tendered their resignations and were stepping down from the board with immediate effect, along with five non-executive directors. 

The UK firm recently revealed it had broken through the £2bn-revenue barrier, and posting a 13% increase in pre-tax profits to £148m.