Thirty workers face redundancy at Farrans

In another blow for Northern Ireland's hard-hit construction industry, Northstone NI - the parent company of Farrans - confirmed last week that it plans to make around 30 of its staff redundant.

The company said the decline in workload in the construction industry had forced it to consider cutting some jobs from its Farrans division's buildings, homes, and healthcare businesses, as well as all administration and insurance personnel within its Dunmurry complex.

The firm, which is ultimately owned by Irish construction giant CRH, has entered into a 30-day consultation with employees.

In a statement, Northstone NI's human resources director Jim Leech said: "Regrettably Farrans has entered into a redundancy consultation process with some 120 staff as a result of the ongoing decline in the construction market in Northern Ireland and reductions in government spending on capital projects.

"Various options are now being explored, including offering voluntary redundancy and redeployment to minimise the number of compulsory redundancies.

"At this stage it is thought that up to 30 posts may be made redundant, but this cannot be confirmed until the consultation process is completed."

Earlier this month the Construction Employers' Federation said the decline in local construction jobs had slowed considerably after a huge decline in 2008 and 2009.

Staff will be informed on June 21 as to whether or not they will lose their jobs.