Surrey Online report:
Helicopter firm chops jobs
A HELICOPTER firm which runs out of Redhill Aerodrome is axing at least 138 jobs.
Bristow Helicopters is closing down its technical services division, but the firm has denied it intends to pull out of Redhill completely.
A company spokesman said the closure had been forced by growing competition and under-performance.
Staff affected by the closure were advised of their redundancies 10 days ago and are now involved in a consultation process with AMICUS officials, which could last a couple of months.
The spokesman said: "Where possible, staff may be redeployed or relocated. "But inevitably there will be a fair number of redundancies.
"We anticipate, as a consequence, some general administrative support jobs will also go, though it is not possible to put a figure on those at this point."
The job losses will leave a residual workforce of about 80 to 90 in Redhill.
The closure of the technical services operation followed a major review of the business, leading to restructuring of the company, with each of its operating units being set up as an individual business. This showed the technical services division was not performing well as a separate business.
One employee facing redundancy said there was a growing fear among staff of "a hidden agenda". The man, who asked not to be named, said: "A lot of us believe sooner rather than later the company will shed its links with Redhill and relocate closer to its offshore opera-tions."
The closure of the technical services means that the business will focus on providing helicopter transportation in the North Sea and European area.