75 roles at risk at City & Guilds as new owner confirms restructure

City & Guilds’ new private owner has put 75 roles at risk of redundancy.

PeopleCert has today launched a formal consultation to restructure the awarding and training business, with around 6 per cent of its 1,250-strong workforce impacted.

It follows a “detailed review” undertaken by City & Guilds’ senior leadership team and comes weeks after CEO Kirstie Donnelly and chief financial officer Abid Ismail were exited. The pair are now preparing legal action.

The restructure proposals are intended to “simplify how the organisation operates, strengthen accountability and governance, reduce duplication and support continued investment in technology, operations, customer service and learner experience”, a PeopleCert statement said.

“The proposals are also intended to create greater clarity in decision-making, improve quality and consistency, and enable teams to work more effectively together.”

The majority of roles at risk are within “central support functions” but the company refused to name specific positions.

The statement added that there will be no disruption to any of our learners, including students currently working through their assessments, or to the delivery or quality of qualifications during this process – claiming that the changes are designed to further “strengthen and enhance the reliability and overall quality of qualifications and services provided to learners and partners”.

PeopleCert bought City & Guilds’ awarding and commercial business from the 148-year-old charity in October for around £166 million.

The sale is the subject of a live Charity Commission inquiry, with the regulator examining “trustees’ decision making” and large bonuses paid to senior executives after the transaction. PeopleCert itself has also launched its own probe into the conduct of top City & Guilds executives during the sale. Neither inquiry has reported yet.

Months after the acquisition, PeopleCert drew up plans to cut City & Guilds’ workforce bill by around £19 million over the next two years.

According to a presentation to investors the savings will be made from “personnel cost synergies”, with “optimisation” to be driven through “natural employee churn” – affecting hundreds of jobs.

One third of the vacant roles would be made “redundant” due to “overlapping functions”, another third would be relocated to Greece where costs are “up to 50 per cent lower,” and the remaining third rehired in the UK, the presentation suggested.

‘This will be a difficult and uncertain time’

A PeopleCert spokesperson told FE Week today that the company hopes to reach agreements on ways to “avoid dismissals, reduce the numbers affected and mitigate impact”.

A statement to the press said: “The proposals are focused primarily on enabling functions, where duplication and inefficiency have been identified. Approximately 75 roles (6 per cent) are likely to be impacted by the proposals.

“No final decisions have been made. The organisation is now entering a formal consultation process to gather feedback, consider alternative approaches and ensure all perspectives are reviewed before any outcomes are confirmed.

“City & Guilds and PeopleCert remain focused on supporting learners, partners and employers, while continuing to modernise and strengthen long-term capability across the organisation.

“We recognise this will be a difficult and uncertain time for colleagues whose roles may be impacted and are committed to handling the process with care, fairness and respect.”

As well as the awarding business, City & Guilds runs three training providers – Gen2, Intertrain and Trade Skills 4U – which also transferred to PeopleCert but remain under the City & Guilds brand.