ITV to shed 400 jobs

Sources have reported that ITV plc, the British commercial TV broadcaster, plans to tell staff at its Central TV offices in Birmingham and Nottingham that some 400 jobs will go, according to an industry source.

ITV plc has operations in television broadcasting and production, pay and digital TV, and television leasing.

The company owns 12 of the Britain's Independent Television 1 (ITV1, a national broadcast network) stations.

ITV plc also owns sister digital channel ITV2 and stakes in pay-TV channels and Internet ventures.

Trade unions fear that Central's Nottingham studio which employs about 200 staff, will be closed, with operations transferred to Birmingham and another 200 jobs going from that studio.

Central Television is one of the oldest ITV franchises and predates Carlton TV, which acquired the Midlands station in the mid-1990s.

ITV, employs around 8,500 staff, and hopes to save £100m (€149.75m) a year.

The group began a 90-day consultation period with staff last November.

ITV have not yet made an official comment.