E-business consultancy Rubus is to close its Manchester office because there simply isn't enough demand from companies "up North".

Eighteen people will be offered other positions in the company "down South" at offices in Bracknell and London.

There will be no compulsory redundancies as part of the decision, the company said.

it appears the writing was on the wall for Rubus when it published a survey in January which found there was an e-business North-South divide.

It found that 72 per cent of organisations in the North admitted that other business matters could get in the way of successfully implementing their e-business plans, compared to just 33 per cent in the South.

In other words, up North, e-business just isn't high on the list of priorities.

Elsewhere, Rubus also confirmed that Malcolm Wolfe, Rubus' Chief Consulting Officer, is set to step down although this is not thought to be related to the office closure.

No details were revealed except that the decision was a "mutual agreement". Aren't they always?

In December, Rubus - voted CBI Most Promising New Company in 1999 - axed 75 people from it staff. ®

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