ISP to halve UK workforce

Dan Milmo
guardian.co.uk, Friday June 1 2001 17.51 BST

Internet service provider Tiscali is to halve its UK workforce, following the acquisition of three rival web companies.

The Italian company is wielding the job axe at the London offices of LineOne, World Online and LibertySurf, which it bought over the past six months.

"The integration of Tiscali's new acquisitions in the UK will involve a reorganisation of staff, among other measures, to eliminate overlap or duplication of roles and improve operational and cost efficiency," Tiscali said in a statement.

"As a result, Tiscali plans to halve staff numbers by the end of July 2001," Tiscali added.

The three companies will be rolled into a single operation called Tiscali UK, based in London.

Sergio Cellini, former chief executive of Excite Italia, will be chief executive and Stephane Huet, until recently head of LibertySurf UK, will be chief operating officer.

A £2.5bn spending spree has made job cuts inevitable by creating a pan-European workforce with 470 staff and a mass over-lapping of jobs.

The Sardinia-based group is now the second-largest ISP in Europe and has the widest geographical spread in the sector.

But analysts have doubts about Tiscali's aggressive acquisition strategy, which has left it second or third place in most of the countries where it has a presence.