CONSERVATORY manufacturer Ultraframe has warned its employees there may have to be redundancies at its Clitheroe headquarters.

The company - the largest manufacturer in the Ribble Valley - announced it intended to "streamline" its business in the wake of four profit warnings this year.

Marketing director Linda Doughty said the staff at risk had been informed and that the remainder of the 800-strong workforce had been told of the shake-up.

She declined to disclose how many people had been warned they could lose their jobs, but said it would only be a "very small proportion".

She said: "There are a small number of roles at risk, but we are going to try to minimise the effect that will have on people through redeployment. We won't know the actual figures until the middle of next week."

Only last week, Ultraframe revealed that its sales over the past 12 months had fallen by 19 per cent and confirmed to shareholders that profits would fall to around £12 million - £6 million down on the previous year.

The newly-appointed UK managing director Vanda Murray said an operational review of its Clitheroe operations was needed to meet changes facing the conservatory industry.

"Ultraframe continues to invest in its Clitheroe plant and in driving efficiencies both through technology and process improvements," said Ms Murray, who took up her appointment on September 1. " We also want to empower our employees at every level to improve the speed of decision making and with it customer service. Our new structure will reflect this."