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Caitlin Smith - Caitlin Smith • Published 3 Oct 2007 10:20

A MAJOR shake-up of Scottish Borders Enterprise should not lead to compulsory redundancies.

However, SEB bosses admit they may be offering voluntary redundancy packages.

The organisation"s future has been in doubt since John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, announced that local enterprise companies were to be overhauled and replaced by six regional operations.

Now David Gass, operations director at SEB, has moved to assure staff they will not be dropped when the Borders office fuses with Dumfries and Galloway to form a new South of Scotland region.

He said: 'I know that since the announcement last week there has existed uncertainty amongst staff and directors as to what the new format will be and where this will leave them, but I can assure you there will be no compulsory redundancies.'

Plans are currently being drawn up to have the new structure in place by the end of year, with implementation by April 2008.

An SEB spokesperson said: 'The Cabinet Secretary said there would be no compulsory redundancies, though a voluntary redundancy package may be put together.'

All local offices, such as the Bridge Street premises in Galashiels and the Selkirk"s Riverside office, will remain open until changes are made.

In addition, Visit Scotland will organise its own structure to match six enterprise network regions.

The SEB spokesperson said the changes were designed to create a "one-stop-shop" for businesses.

Mr Swinney said he hoped the changes would reinvigorate enterprise networks by removing unnecessary bureaucracy.

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This article appeared in Border Telegraph 03 Oct 07

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