Support service group Amec has merged its UK design and construction businesses. The new division is called design and project services and employs 4500 people.

A spokesperson for Amec confirmed that there would be a number of redundancies as a result of the merge, but he declined to confirm an exact figure. It is thought that most job losses will be among office support staff.

The restructuring followed a four-month operational review by John Moss, managing director of Amec鈥檚 construction services business. The move came in response to demand for a combined design, project management and delivery business.

Moss said: 鈥淲e are moving away from stand-alone construction. Today, customers are looking for total solutions and want Amec to be there to take the problem away. Reorganising our business in this way means we can do that, because we can manage the whole project from one place.

鈥淲e very much regret local redundancies and will keep them to a minimum, but recognise that these are sometimes inevitable to ensure the future health of our company.鈥�

The department will operate from a network of regional offices. It has design offices in Switzerland and China.