Arup to slash 100 jobs

The engineering consultant, which employs more than 4,000 people in the UK including 115 architects, said concerns about future workloads had prompted the decision.

In a statement, it said the groups affected include Arup Bristol, its North-west arm, which has offices in Manchester and Liverpool, and ‘Buildings London’, which includes part of Arup’s property arm.

It added: “Arup needs to ensure its long-term business health and it is essential that we match our resources to our anticipated workload.

“While we will endeavour to redeploy staff within the firm where possible, we anticipate up to 99 people will be made redundant.”

A 30 day consultation period is due to run out later this week.

A spokeswoman confirmed that any architects working at the affected businesses would be under threat.

Earlier this month, the group’s 100-strong architecture practice Arup Associates picked up award-winning practice Flacq after the latter agreed to merge its business and relocate to Arup’s headquarters in Fitzroy Square.

According to the Construction Products Association, construction activity will fall 3% this year and only return to a 1% growth in 2011. The most recent GDP figures said that while the economy grew 0.2% in the first quarter of 2010, construction remained mired in recession.