Techical tools specialist Oxford Instruments, iron castings maker Castings, plumbing group BSS and Hyder Consulting all announced cut jobs, with most warning of more to come. Hyder, which provides design consultancy services for infrastructure projects, warned it was "cautious" about the current year because of the difficult trading conditions, prompting a 10pc slump in its shares.It is cutting around 8pc of its 5,000 work force. Castings also saw its shares tumble, by 12pc, after announcing 350 jobs had been cut and warning of more to come if conditions did not improve. The business, which has already slashed production by around 60pc, forecast a "very difficult" year. Oxford Instruments blamed a downturn in industrial markets for its decision to shut two overseas facilities and cut 230 jobs, or 15pc of its work force. BSS - which employs around 5,000 people - said it expected the year-end headcount to be 5pc below peak levels.
