Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
The telephone directory and digital company, Hibu announced a programme of cost efficiencies and savings that will result in a significant reduction to its overall UK workforce. The restructuring programme will result in a reduction of 310 jobs in the telesales and customer service areas of the business. The company has announced its intention to close its Glasgow call centre. This will result in the entire workforce at this site being made redundant, comprising of around 180 employees. Plans to close a similar site in Manchester were also announced, where there will be a further loss of 130 telesales and customer service jobs. Management at the two sites have begun formal consultation with the workers who will be impacted by the site closures.
The company has indicated that future telesales customer operations will be focused in Birmingham and that the telesales activities that were formally undertaken at the Manchester site will be absorbed into its Belfast operation. There was no suggestion that the staffing level in either Birmingham or Belfast would be increased when the activities were transferred from Glasgow and Manchester. The company has reported, however, that they are planning to increase operations within its overseas locations.
As part of the same restructuring programme, Hibu also plans to reduce the number of customer service roles at the company’s UK headquarters based in Reading. As of 12 August 2014, there was no information on the final number of job losses at the Reading site.
The company has operations in the UK, US, Spain, Argentina, Chile and Peru and in 2013 had total workforce of around 12,000. After rebranding itself from Yell to Hibu in 2012, the company continued to be faced with a heavy debt burden. In July 2013, a consortium of lenders put together a refinancing package aimed restructuring the debt and with the hope of saving UK jobs. This followed the parent company of the business being placed into administration in November 2013 and a new team of senior management being brought in.
Eurofound (2014), Hibu, Closure in United Kingdom, factsheet number 77400, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/77400.
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