BURNLEY firm VEKA has confirmed that 25 jobs will be lost as the result of a recent consultation process.

The Rossendale Road industrial estate based uPVC window system company say that they were forced to undertake the review as a result of a recent loss of business due to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic and ensuing lockdown situation.

This comes as businesses across different sectors all over the UK come under pressure and have, in many cases, taken similar decisions resulting in job losses..

VEKA managing director David Jones said: “Having started the process on Monday 15th June, establishing an employee elected committee responsible for taking group redundancy consultations, we have followed it to its conclusion.

“Fortunately, throughout the process, working with our committee, we were able to reduce the impact from an estimated redundancy of 78 roles to 25 - This equates to 6.5% of our workforce and reflects the new scale of the business.”

Like almost all businesses, VEKA has had to weather an unprecedented storm since the onset of the virus earlier this year with orders hit and operations severely limited.

As such profits have taken a hit, forcing the company to examine potential savings strategies.

In the wake of the consultation process, the firm decided to take a phased approach to redundancies, with the first phase focusing on cutting roles to make up for losses that the company could not have foreseen due to the pandemic.

Fortunately for VEKA and its workforce, stronger than expected results in July and a more positive outlook for the industry in general have meant that there was no need to move onto a second phase of redundancies.

The company has also pledged to continue to support those affected by redundancy by offering outplacement support and extending wellbeing packages for several months following each staff member’s leave date.

Management at the family firm hope that these redundancies will be the last and that a sustainable future has now been found for the business as restrictions lift and economic life starts to return to normality.

Mr Jones said: “This isn’t the first time that VEKA plc had to make some tough decisions in order to weather a storm and I recognise that COVID-19 continues to impact communities and may, in turn, have further impact on business.

“Although I’m saddened that this has resulted in losing valued employees, by adapting and acting responsibly to ensure the sustainable success of the business, VEKA plc is not just here for now, but for the future and for life.”