Phoenix burns engineering and Northampton call centre jobs

Phoenix IT Group has told HQ-based call centre staff and a bunch of field engineers that their jobs are at risk of redundancy, insiders have told The Channel.

The headcount reduction is part of a phased plan to chop 300 workers, and is understood to have led to some rationalisation in sales and marketing including the exit of director Graham Spivey.

According to sources, Phoenix told 40 engineers that their jobs are at risk of redundancy on 25 May, and is expected to enter into a formal consultation process with them later this week.

One source familiar with the situation suggested Phoenix may consolidate its various engineering teams into one multi-disciplined unit that can work more efficiently.

"The market is competitive," said the mole. "[Phoenix] has looked at the contracts and decided to cut overheads to maximise profits."

The call centre team based in the Northampton head office were also notified of their fate and, again, a revamp is expected.

The team is split into three component parts say sources - call vetting, allocation and planning. The teams log customer calls, specify solutions, arrange spares and designate an engineer.

Phoenix this week revealed an 85 per cent year-on-year slide in pre-tax profits to £3.8m and a 2.5 per cent dip in sales to £264.6m for fiscal 2012 ended March. The front desk at Phoenix confirmed Spivey had left the organisation, but was unable to provide further details.

Phoenix IT Group declined to comment. ®