UNITED Utilities, which last week announced 1,700 job losses, today launched a new facilities management company.

The group, formed through the £1.8 billion takeover of electricity company Norweb by North West Water, last week announced the job cuts just months after the merger.

The cutbacks came on top of 800 previously planned job losses, taking the total to 2,500.

Vertex, the new company based in south Manchester, has a staff of 2,500 and an initial annual turnover of £200 million.

Employees from North West Water and Norweb have transferred to the new firm, which will provide a range of services from telesales and customer services to billing and IT to United Utilities and outside companies.

"More and more organisations are seeing the benefits of competitively outsourcing their non-core business support and service requirements, including local and central government, utilities and commercial enterprises," said chairman Derek Lewis, who was previously chairman of Technology plc.

"We are already one of the top companies of our kind in the UK and will provide a comprehensive range of managed business services to the growing external market, including financial services, procurement and training."

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