More jobs set to go as struggling Doncaster factory announces further redundancies

Balby-based bathroom company Victoria Plum had already announced 100 jobs would go from its factory in Water Vole Way last year.

Now bosses have announced another round of redundancies blaming planned cuts on “external pressures.”

The Free Press understands nearly 90 jobs are at risk in the latest cuts.

In a message to staff sent out on February 27 and, seen by the Free Press, bosses told employees: “Today I'm sharing news about further changes we need to implement to better position Victoria Plum for long-term profitable and sustainable growth.

“The most significant and toughest of these decisions is that we are proposing to further reduce our headcount. This is not an action we take lightly, and we recognise the impact it will have on all employees.

“As a result of this process, should the proposal go ahead, we will have to say goodbye to people who have made important contributions to VP; so, we know this will not be easy.

“We are again facing external pressures, like the current Red Sea freight issues and an ongoing depressed consumer economic environment but we cannot control them; what we can do is be braver at tackling the things we can control.

"While we are making progress against our strategy, our overall headcount and expenses are now not aligned to the expected scale of our new business. To address this, we are proposing to implement organisational changes that consolidate teams to reduce those costs.”

“We are still on our path to recovery and continue building a stronger Victoria Plum for the future that is growing, and, more importantly, able to be more resilient in the face of any challenge.

“Over the past four months we made fundamental changes to our business, mostly utilising the new owner's expertise in logistics and distribution and offshore working practices. That work continues to offer further efficiencies and is helping to reduce costs.

"We have also changed our approach to digital marketing and are pushing to recover our range depth and stock position.

“All these actions will help build revenue and establish, over time, a stable trading platform.

“This strategy is the right one, but it will take time, and during this period the business will be generating lower revenues than we have previously seen and that inevitably means we need to do more to ensure our success as a smaller business.

“Very soon we will start notifying all employees whose roles are potentially being placed at risk of redundancy, and we will then enter into a consultation process. The consultation period will last for 45 days, commencing on 27th February.”

Last year a new owner was found for the business, but dozens of jobs were lost as a result of the takeover by AHK Designs.

In October a Victoria Plum spokesperson said: “Now we are under new ownership, Victoria Plum is going through a period of transition to enable the future delivery of sustainable profitable growth for the business.

“As part of this transition, we have taken the significant decision to reduce the complexity of our company to create a more simplified business model.

“We have therefore announced a redundancy consultation process with less than 100 colleagues, who are mainly within installation and customer engagement roles.

“We understand this will be an unnerving time for those affected, and we are working closely to support each individual throughout this process.”

On the Victoria Plum website it staes: “Since we were founded in 2001, we’ve gone on to become the UK’s online bathroom specialists, serving well over two million customers.”