Heating and Ventilating

Plumbing, heating and building supplier, Wolseley Plc is expected to announce more job losses, due to worsening market conditions.
Wolseley has already culled 10% cent of its workforce in the past 18 months as a result of the credit crunch's impact on the housing market and the group's chief executive Chip Hornsby said further cost reduction and business improvement actions will be taken in Europe before July 31, 2008.

On Wednesday, July 16, the world's biggest distributor of plumbing and heating materials, is presenting its pre-close period trading statement, for the eleven months ended June 30, 2008.

In May, Wolseley announced it is implementing cost-cutting measures including job cuts that means the firm will incur one-off costs of £50m, but would as a result benefit from annualised savings of £70 million.

In the US, 75 branches were closed and at Wolseley firm Ferguson, 200 jobs were lost.

At the time, Hornsby said: 'Given the continuing tough market conditions, our response has been to take further action to lower the cost base and improve cash flow, while continuing to pursue our longer term strategic aims'.