LONDON — City & Guilds is facing potential legal and industrial action over plans to cut about 400 UK staff following its acquisition by private company PeopleCert in autumn 2023. Unite union officials allege that PeopleCert has engaged in unlawful consultation practices during the transfer process.
Unite claims PeopleCert has been withholding key information during consultations and advertising for new recruits while legally required to offer first refusal to staff at risk of redundancy. The union predicts the initial wave of about 75 proposed job losses represents only the beginning of a broader reduction targeting roughly one-third of City & Guilds’ 1,300 UK employees.
In December, an investor presentation outlined plans for City & Guilds to shrink its UK workforce as part of a £22 million cost-cutting drive. PeopleCert informed its investors of £13 million in “personnel cost synergies” to be achieved largely by replacing departing UK staff with lower-cost overseas hires.
Unite regional officer Peter Storey said: “PeopleCert has been dishonest [about its staffing plans] from the moment it took over City & Guilds. Without movement from the company, this dispute will continue to escalate, including through potential legal and industrial action.” In a letter sent last month, the union wrote: “The alignment between those previously reported measures [in the investor presentation] and the current proposals gives rise to a legitimate concern that key aspects of the outcome were decided in advance.”
PeopleCert responded that a subsequent review conducted earlier this year identified the need for up to 75 compulsory redundancies, separate from prior investor discussions. The company stated: “The proposals currently under consultation are the result of a subsequent review of the organisation’s structure, operating model and future requirements, which took place earlier this year and is separate to previous discussions on the workforce. No outcomes have been predetermined. The purpose of consultation is to seek feedback on the proposals, explore ways to avoid, reduce and mitigate proposed redundancies where possible, and consider alternative approaches. That process remains ongoing.”
The Charity Commission opened a statutory inquiry in January 2024 into the sale of City & Guilds’ business arm. PeopleCert also commissioned its own internal investigation following the acquisition. City & Guilds, founded in 1878 to develop a national system of technical education, offers vocational training and certification, with about 60% of its income supported by stable government funding schemes.