Bouygues UK drops Thomas Vale brand

Bouygues is dropping the Thomas Vale building brand as it consolidates its Midland activities around a new central Birmingham office.

As part of the shake-up both Thomas Vale’s Stourport head office and Aston office will be closed within the next two weeks, leaving Stoke on Trent and a new office in Birmingham’s city centre as the new operating base.

Around a dozen staff have been laid off as part of the shake-up to fully integrate the loss-making Thomas Vale building business into the bigger Bouygues UK operation.

The latest streamlining follows around 30-40 job cuts back in the spring, according to a company source.

Bouygues bought Thomas Vale Group four years ago when the building firm turned over more than £200m and employed over 600 staff.

Since then Thomas Vale has struggled with challenging markets suffering losses in three out of four years.  Problems deepened in 2015 when the firm plunged £12.5m into the red, with staff numbers down to around 320.

Since then the further job cuts have taken the headcount down further.

Craig Tatton, Bouygues UK Managing Director for the North and Midlands said: “Thomas Vale’s investment in relocating to Birmingham builds on the work we have been doing with the Bouygues Group over the last two years to maximise the strengths of our combined businesses in the Midlands and the North.

“All our staff were consulted about the move to Birmingham and 12 of them have chosen not to come with us.

“Following our relocation to Birmingham at the beginning of November, Thomas Vale will be branded as Bouygues UK.”

He added: “Both the move and the rebrand form a natural conclusion to the integration process put in place following the company’s acquisition by Bouygues Construction subsidiary Bouygues Bâtiment International in June 2012, and following the feedback we have received from our partners and clients.

“The UK continues to be a key strategic market for Bouygues Construction and the corporate strength, solid performance record and strong financial covenant of the organisation remains an important element of the Bouygues UK offer to its clients.”

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2016/10/18/bouygues-uk-drops-thomas-vale-brand/

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