British luxury carmaker Bentley plans to cut up to 275 roles as part of a major organisational overhaul following a sharp drop in profits.

LONDON: British luxury carmaker Bentley has announced plans to cut up to 275 jobs as part of a major company restructuring.

The proposed cuts, which represent around 6% of its 4,600-strong workforce in Crewe, will affect management, agency and other office-based roles but not manufacturing positions.

Bentley chairman and chief executive Frank-Steffen Walliser stated that the company is “making some difficult decisions to ensure the long-term competitiveness of the business, including an organisational adjustment potentially impacting approximately 275 positions.”

The job losses were revealed alongside the company’s annual results, which showed a 42% drop in operating profits to €216 million.

Bentley attributed its challenging performance to a difficult global market, higher costs from parent company Volkswagen, and a US$42 million hit from US tariffs.

The cuts will be implemented through a combination of 150 staff being placed at risk of redundancy and a further 125 roles being removed through natural staff turnover and not filling vacancies.

Consultation on the 150 redundancies will take place over the next four to six weeks, with the wider role reductions expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Karen Lewis, an organiser for the GMB trade union, said “these cuts have come out of the blue and the workforce is stunned,” adding that the union would stand with members to ensure minimum redundancies and maximum payouts.

Walliser expressed his “sincere appreciation to those affected,” pledging that the company is “committed to supporting each individual with care, guidance and assistance throughout this transition.”

 The Sun Malaysia