HUNDREDS of jobs are being axed at a firm hit by "considerable losses".

The Alan Nuttall Partnership Ltd has announced there will be more than 200 redundancies at its Dudley and Hinckley sites in order to "return to profitability".

Managing director, Nino Calandra, said: “It is our intention to downsize and re-shape the business to reflect the shrinking retail sector.

"Sadly we have no option. We need to do this to live to fight another day.”

He added: “Earlier in the year, we made a number of redundancies and restructured some areas of our company to make improvements to our business.

“We have invested time and resource to try and move into new sectors to reduce our dependence on the retail sector, but sadly this doesn’t happen overnight, although we hope we will see the benefits of these actions in the near future.”

The shopfitting and interiors company currently employs more than 500 people at the two locations.

A letter from chairman Alan Nuttall, which was handed to staff on Friday, said: "Over the past two years our business as a whole has made considerable losses that we cannot continue to sustain.

"Whilst I am devastated to have to take this action, and understand the effect it will have on us all, I am sure this is the right decision to secure the future of our business and sincerely appreciate everyone's continued dedication throughout this difficult time."