1000s face axe in building firm cuts

Thousands of jobs will be axed at a national plumbing and building supplies firm, which has five branches in the West Midlands, after becoming the latest victim of the credit crunch.

Bosses at Wolseley, which trades as Plumb Center and Build Center, have today announced they will be closing 200 branches across the UK and Ireland.

The move will put 2,000 workers out of a job.

The news has left staff at its Wolverhampton, Walsall, Bloxwich, Cannock and Halesowen branches fearing for their future.

The Reading-based company, which operates more than 1,900 branches, said the cuts were being made due to expectations of a further slump in trading. The moves come just weeks after bosses were forced to axe 5,050 jobs, mainly in North America.

Staff in the Black Country today told of their shock that their jobs were on the line.

A worker from the Plumb Center, in Birmingham Road, Wolverhampton, said: "It came as quite a shock this morning when a customer told us over the counter that the firm was getting rid of 200 branches.

"We have no idea which ones are going yet but it's fair to say the morale isn't great at the moment."

Graham Lucas, of Plumb Center, in Stockton Close, Birchills, Walsall, said the number of workers at the branch had already dropped from six to four due to "natural wastage".

"We were warned by the company there would be job cuts due to the current economic climate, but we didn't know it would be so severe until we saw it on the TV this morning."

The firm also has branches at Willenhall Lane Industrial Estate, in Bloxwich, Bridge Street, Bridgtown in Cannock, and at Crown Works, in Mucklow Hill, Halesowen.