Brooks and Tubs Tiles to shed 150 jobs

THE MULTINATIONAL owner of DIY and builders' merchants businesses Brooks and Tubs Tiles has announced that it is to shed 150 jobs.

Builders' merchant Wolseley Ireland said yesterday that the construction slowdown had forced it to review its businesses. As a result, the company is going to cut 150 jobs from across the organisation in Ireland, where it employs a total of 1,200 people.

Wolseley Ireland managing director Pat Roche described the job losses as regrettable but said that the company had to adjust its business to the prevailing market.

The company intends seeking both voluntary and compulsory redundancies. A spokeswoman said that it was in talks with unions and had informed staff in the operations affected.

Wolseley owns and operates a number of builders' merchants and DIY businesses in Ireland, including Brooks, Heat Merchants, Tubs Tiles and Electric Merchants. The company has 118 stores around the State.

It is part of the British-based and London-quoted Wolseley plc, the world's biggest distributor of heating, plumbing and related building products. The group employs 75,000 people and has businesses in 27 countries.

Wolseley Ireland grew strongly over the last five years on the back of the building boom. Its workforce doubled over that period to 1,200 from 600. Mr Roche said yesterday that the company intends to keep growing its Irish business: "We do not believe customers will be affected by these changes."