BGC Contracting has announced personnel cuts within its Perth head office as part of a restructure that will also move its mining chief operating officer to Brisbane as the company shifts its focus to the east coast.
The company said the changes were primarily due to the early closure of the Koolyanobbing iron ore project near Southern Cross and its expanding national footprint.
Chief executive Greg Heylen said the new structure would result in a modest reduction in the corporate headcount.
“Following our successful diversification strategy in the past three years, our operations now span Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory, NSW and Queensland,” he said.
“We have an outstanding track record for our mining and construction services alike.
“The new structure based from both our head office in Perth, and our Brisbane office meets the needs of our national operations, and positions the business for the next phase of its long-term growth strategy.”
Mr Heylen said the company’s chief operating officer mining, Andrew Taplin, would relocate to the Brisbane office.
The move comes after BGC won a number of east coast contracts in 2017, including civil construction work on part of a $4.4 billion highway upgrade project in NSW.
The company also announced a $700 million contract for work on Idemitsu Australia Resources’ Boggabri coal mine in NSW last year.
In January 2016, BGC announced a five-year contract extension worth $520 million for mining services at Koolyanobbing.
It covered a range of services including drilling, blasting, loading, hauling crushing, screening and train loading at the mine.
That extension began in 2017, meaning BGC was set to operate the mine until 2022.
However, earlier this year, US miner Cleveland-Cliffs (formerly Cliffs Natural Resources), which operates the Koolyanobbing mine, said it would wind up work at the site by the end of the financial year.
