Restructure for JBA as legal case looms

JBA Holdings has announced a rejig that will split the company into four sectors. The internal restructuring will lead to the Warwickshire-based business focussing on apparel and footwear, food and drink, car parts, and electronics. The company now consists of four divisions: product, marketing, finance and geographic operating units. Ken Briddon, JBA chief executive, said: "These four sectors account for 60 per cent of the business at present, we expect to raise that to 80 per cent over the next three years." JBA said the cost structure of the company would be cut by £5 million per year, with a one-off implementation cost of £800,000. Projects not relevant to the new strategy would be slashed, sales and marketing teams be made smaller and the way software was developed in the labs switched, according to a company statement. The move follows last week's layoffs, when JBA announced 44 UK staff redundancies. Most of the workers affected were software tool developers. JBA has cut its global workforce by around eight per cent to 3000. Last month the company was also hit by a legal claim filed by US customer Hartmarx Corp for damages in excess of $18 million. The claim related to software and services provided to Hartmarx by JBA International under a supply contract. JBA said it would "vigorously and strenuously defend" the legal claim. ®