Engineering giant Renishaw has made employees redundant from one of its Gloucestershire sites.

Renishaw confirmed that 22 members of staff across two of their sites had been made redundant after the Gazette Series was contacted by an employee.

The company revealed in the statement that the decision to make staff redundant had been made after first quarter profits fell by around £28 million from the year before.

In a statement, Renishaw said: "Renishaw’s first quarter trading results that were released on 15 October clearly highlighted the difficult economic conditions that the company is facing at the current time.

"Compared to the same period last year, profits were sharply down from £32.6m to just £4.3m, and trading conditions are expected to remain challenging through the remainder of this financial year driven by the global macroeconomic environment.

"The Renishaw Board believes that the structural demand drivers in Renishaw’s end-markets remain intact and it remains committed to the company’s long-term strategy of delivering growth through the development and introduction of innovative and patented products.

"However, as detailed at the time of the trading results statement, in the current circumstances we are focused on improving productivity and are also committed to undertaking a range of initiatives to reduce the Group’s cost base.

"The company does not comment on the circumstances of individual employees, but we are currently in a challenging period that requires us to look closely at our operations and reorganise the business where required to achieve cost reductions.

"In our manufacturing operations, the reduced global demand for Renishaw products has led to reduced activity.

"To date this situation has been managed by not replacing people leaving the company and not renewing some of the contracts of manufacturing staff who joined us on a fixed-term basis.

"However, with the continuing challenges faced, it has now become necessary to take further measures. Therefore, this week, a total of 22 employees working in manufacturing operations at our Woodchester site in Gloucestershire and Miskin site in South Wales, have been made redundant.

"Whilst any decision to make redundancies is regrettable, it is important that the company adapts to the current economic climate and focuses very strongly on targeting its resources upon initiatives that will deliver profit and improve productivity, whilst also controlling expenditure, including salary costs."

Renishaw is Gloucestershire’s largest private sector employer with around 2,400 employees in the county based at five sites – Charfield (on the outskirts of the village, but still in Stroud District), New Mills (headquarters near Wotton-under-Edge), Old Town (in Wotton), Stonehouse and Woodchester.