More than 100 jobs at risk at property repairs company responsible for thousands of Sheffield homes

Guinness Property is a subsidiary of The Guinness Partnership which is responsible for maintenance and repairs at the 67,000 homes across the country, including almost 2,600 within Sheffield, that the charity manages.

The firm currently employs 555 people across the country, including 90 based out of its Chesterfield office who carry out work across the north east.

The Star has seen documents setting out proposals to slash staff numbers by 108, from 555 to 447, just months after a previous round of redundancies.

A spokeswoman for The Guinness Partnership, which employs 2,886 people nationally, confirmed it had begun formal consultation with staff over the proposed restructuring of Guinness Property but insisted that until that was finished it wouldn’t know how many people may be facing redundancy.

She added that 20 staff from the subsidiary had been made redundant earlier this year, following the end of two major projects and a period of consultation, but said those employees were made aware when they took on the roles that those projects were temporary.

An employee, who asked not to be named, said staff had been told redundancies would be made on November 13, following a 45-day consultation period.

He claimed at least nine empty home workers and 15 day-to-day repairs employees working in Sheffield were among those who could be affected.

A spokeswoman for The Guinness Partnership said: “We have started formal consultation with staff about a proposal to change some roles and structures within Guinness Property, to make sure we have the right skills and trades in the right places to respond to customer demand and to improve the services we offer to residents. We are listening to feedback from staff on the proposals before any final decisions are made.”

Documents seen by The Star outline proposals to cut 31 out of 148 management and support jobs, and 77 out of 375 ‘operative’ roles, with no cuts planned to the 32 existing apprentice positions.

They state that the firm plans to continue carrying out repairs at the properties it currently serves but to move to ‘regional structures’ to manage and deliver those repairs and its work to turn around empty homes.