1/4 of Charcol staff face exit including chief executive

Mortgage broker John Charcol could lay off up to a quarter of its staff, according to a staff member who is part of the cull, while a spokesman said chief executive Ian Kennedy is also likely to leave the firm. 

The spokesman for the national mortgage broker said it was likely Kennedy, who joined the firm in October, would leave despite ongoing negotiations. The spokesman confirmed there would be redundancies but denied a quarter of staff would lose their jobs. 

Charcol was already running on 'skin and bones', said the staff member who was part of the latest round of cuts. The employee, who asked to remain anonymous, said up to a quarter of the 260 workforce could be cut across all departments apart from sales.  

Staff were told about the layoffs last Wednesday with the first round of staff leaving this week and details of the total layoffs to be confirmed in the next 10 days, the company said. John Charcol closed its Birmingham office last Friday as part of the company-wide restructuring. 

‘As part of the review they are closing offices literally for the rent money, and moving staff to London or working from home,’ said the staff member affected by the layoffs. 

John Charcol’s spokesman said: ‘We are confident we can service Birmingham’s client bank from other offices. We are looking at our business as we need to have the right size for the current market,’ he added. ‘We will have to make tough decisions and would not rule anything out.’ 

Charcol founders John Garfield and Charles Wishart bought out private equity shareholder Advantage Capital's 15% stake in the firm two weeks ago as part of the restructuring. 

Garfield and Wishart were forced to invest £1.5 million in Charcol in March after auditors KPMG warned the broker may not have enough cash to keep operating after its proposed sale for £50 million fell through.