A BUILDING materials group is closing 11 regional offices in a move that will affect 1,100 staff.

Wolseley is transferring its corporate functions to headquarters near Warwick and expanding its office at Ripon, North Yorkshire.

The move will see the closure of a temporary office set up in Harrogate two years ago after the Ripon office was flooded.

A company spokesman last night told The Northern Echo that there would be no compulsory redundancies at the North Yorkshire site, with all 84 staff offered opportunities to move to either Ripon or Warwick.

The Ripon office houses 339 staff. That number is expected to grow to 350, which means a number of Harrogate employees will have to move to Warwick if they decide to remain with the company.

Wolseley said the shake-up was part of its strategy of focusing on seven specialist brands in the UK, including the Plumb Center and Hire Center.

Adrian Barden, managing director of Wolseley UK, said: "To underpin this new, unified business structure, we need a more centralised and cohesive office set-up."

Other offices to be closed include Hastings, Kettering, Kirkcaldy, in Scotland, Leyland, in Lancashire, Marston Gate, in Somerset, Newbury, St Albans and Worcester.

These bases offer support services such as finance, payroll, training, IT, and health and safety.

None of the 1,400 branches or five distribution centres in the UK will be affected by the changes. Offices at Smethwick, Accrington, Hackbridge, Sittingbourne and Fareham will also remain open.

Wolseley said it expected the overhaul to generate about £3.5m in annual savings, but would also lead to one-off costs of about £7m.