星空传媒

Franklin + Andrews is set to cut jobs as part of a drive to reduce overheads by parent firm Mott MacDonald. The move follows a fall in profit for 2004.

Guy Leonard, managing director of Mott MacDonald鈥檚 management, economics and consultancy division and overall boss at F+A, confirmed the cull could hit directors and junior staff, but claimed the number of job losses would be a 鈥渉andful鈥�.

Leonard said the firm was looking at director positions in its property division and more junior posts in its defence operation.

Sources at rival firms claimed they had already been approached by F+A directors interested in leaving the firm. One source said: 鈥淭hey are obviously looking to get out. The firm is looking to make F+A more efficient and cut costs.鈥�

Leonard said: 鈥淲e are looking at one or two areas and will decide in a matter of weeks. There鈥檚 not a predefined result. We are going through a consultancy process at the moment.鈥�

Leonard stressed the process was 鈥渘o different to what anyone else is doing鈥�. He added: 鈥淚t鈥檚 not an issue of getting work, it鈥檚 more that we haven't got the right shape to the overall staff. We are looking to bring in younger to middle- grade people to get a better balance between junior and senior posts.鈥�

Leonard attributed last year鈥檚 drop in profit at the 拢75m-turnover division to accountancy issues. He said:

We鈥檙e looking to get a better balance between junior and senior posts

Guy Leonard, Mott MacDonald

鈥淲e probably recognised too much profit in 2003.鈥�

Mott MacDonald managing director Keith Howells said of F+A: 鈥淧aradoxically, there is a lot of pressure on salaries but pressure on rates at the same time, so you have got to deal with it from both sides.鈥�

In its 2004 annual report and accounts, Mott MacDonald said its management, economics and consultancy division (of which F+A makes up about 50%), had 鈥渁 very challenging year on a number of fronts鈥� and as a result there would be a focus on 鈥渃ontrolling overheads鈥�. Pre-tax profit for Mott MacDonald as a whole dropped almost 13% to 拢11.46m for the year to 31 December 2004, as a result. However, the firm鈥檚 turnover rose 3% to 拢485m.

Howells said the main concern going forward was the UK transport business, because of uncertainty in the highways and railways sectors. 鈥淭here is a lot of uncertainty about Crossrail, which was a big project for us last year,鈥� he said.

Howells added that so far this year, the UK business was performing worse than the international business, but the US had significantly picked up.