Workers at a Witham company face the axe.

J F Nott, an office furniture manufacturing and distribution company based on the Eastways industrial estate, is to make 18 workers redundant.

Chairman Mark Nott said: "It is always a sad time when you are left with no alternative but to lose valuable employees and we will help in any way we can to assist those who are leaving us to find gainful employment elsewhere.

"However, our confidence in the future of the company and in the office furniture industry in general remains very high."

The company, which employs around 100 people, blames the redundancies on "changing economic trends".

It has already introduced a cost reduction programme but has now also been forced to restructure its workforce.

The company believes most of the losses will come through voluntary redundancy and consultation is under way.

A member of the factory floor staff, who did not want to be named, said: "The atmosphere at the company is very, very rough. We are specialised workers that make specialist furniture, so we may have to retrain.

"The younger workers with young families to support are particularly worried."

David Mann, Braintree Council's executive member for employment and development, said: "Every individual redundancy is to be regretted but in a dynamic economy, demand patterns continually change and frictional unemployment will occur as a result."

Published Monday November 4, 2002

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