JOBS have been axed at a housing association ending a long period of uncertainty for 200 workers.

Will Clarke

JOBS have been axed at a housing association ending a long period of uncertainty for 200 workers.

Bosses at Havebury Housing Partnership today marked the formal end of the redundancy consultation for workers at their Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill offices by confirmed that 15 posts are to go in March and September.

Steve Cook, chief executive of Havebury, said “Havebury last year decided it needed to reshape the business to make sure it is fit for the future.

“We have worked closely with both our employees and the Unions on a range of options to minimise the impact on individual employees. Redundancies are very regrettable but we will be providing all the support we can to help those leaving to find new jobs.”

A spokeswoman said: “Havebury confirms that the period of consultation with employees and Unison is now complete. Each employee being made redundant received formal notification on Friday.

“No job share posts were required as part of the structure review. The consultation process has resulted in a total of 11 compulsory redundancies and four voluntary redundancies. The first round of redundancies, which includes ten posts, will take place on March 31 and the five remaining posts will go on September 30.”

Sasha Pearce of Unison, representing the workers, said: “Whilst we regret the need for redundancies we are pleased with how the consultation went and we hope to work positively with Havebury in the future.”

Ms Pearce said it had been a difficult time for the workforce some of whom now faced going into the jobs market in a tough economic climate.

But she said bosses at Havebury had handled the consultation “honourably”.

Havebury first confirmed that it was “undertaking a review of its business with the aim of putting more money into the services it provides for tenants” in November, the day after 23 workers each won more than a �100,000 of a �2.6million lottery syndicate prize.

The redundancies are part of Havebury's “five year plan” which will see Havebury increase its stock of homes over a larger area and provide a wider range of services to tenants.