Short hours end at Dexam as business picks up

Employees at Dexam are gearing up to return to full-time working after three months on short hours.

The company’s 35-strong workforce has been putting in only nine days a fortnight during the summer, and managers have taken a pay cut.

However, the special measures – put in place to counter the effects of the recession – will cease at the end of this month.

Explaining the decision to work on short hours to the Midhurst and Petworth Observer, managing director Roger Morgan-Grenville said that the company operated as a team “which does not like to make redundancies. We prefer to spread the pain,” he said.

Now, the Midhurst, West Sussex company says prospects have improved, with sales at the end of July 2.8% up on those of last year.

It also says it has a lot of forward commitments from retailers and has added supermarkets Tesco, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s to its customer list.