BDP has announced plans to make up to 100 staff redundant after delays to one of the practice’s major contracts.

The job losses are also set against the backdrop of public sector spending cuts.

Staff are undergoing a number of separate redundancy consultations, which could see as many as 15% of the 900 employees leave.

The move follows a delay to BDP’s £420 million redevelopment of the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals (BSUH) NHS trust confirmed the design process was being “paused” at least until the approval of the scheme’s planning application, submitted to Brighton & Hove Council last month.

BDP, which celebrated its 50th anniversary this year, said the consultancy process affected 10-15% of its staff - up to 100 - in its offices in Winchester and Sheffield and its London head office. In a statement it said the “streamlining” followed “the suspension of a major healthcare project and large-scale cuts in public sector work”.

A spokeswoman was unable to say when staff would learn their fate as a series of consultations was under way.

It has been a difficult year for the practice which has had to deal with the death in Bristol of staff member Jo Yeates, and a £3m legal action from the education department over the Westminster Academy.

Peter Drummond, BDP chief executive, said the architect had been “buffered” by its overseas work, including project wins in Kerala, India, and Suzhou, China.

The news comes as architect Archial confirmed it was considering laying off 20 staff in its Glasgow and Edinburgh offices.

Postscript:

A version of this story first appeared in BD’s sister title Building