Hundreds of Kelda Group workers could find themselves working for other firms as the company sells off some of its business.

Kelda - which owns Yorkshire Water - said its re-organisation plan includes disposing of some of its non-core businesses in a bid to give shareholders better value for money.

The review was announced yesterday at the same time as the sudden resignation of Kelda chief executive Dr Kevin Bond - as revealed in later editions of yesterday's Telegraph & Argus.

The firm said that his resignation was "by mutual consent" and came four years after he was brought in to improve the group's credibility. He joined Kelda from the National Rivers Authority and was seen as a safe pair of hands after Yorkshire Water's disastrous management of the drought of 1995-96.

The firm also revealed it had created a new firm within the Kelda Group called Loop which employs 450 people in Bradford made up of call centre, payment advice and billing staff. They currently work in offices at Broadacre House in Vicar Lane and the firm's Buttershaw site.

A spokesman said Kelda was planning to rehouse the Loop staff at new offices being built in Thornbury which would be ready by the summer. The offices are part of the Phoenix Park development off Thornbury roundabout which includes a multi-screen cinema and a leisure centre.

Newly-appointed chairman John Napier is to act as executive chairman in charge of the review.

The firm, which last December unveiled plans to axe 500 Yorkshire Water, said its non-core operations which could be sold off range from White Rose Environmental, which disposes of hospitals' clinical waste, to a water testing laboratories business, Alcontrol.

Mr Napier said the review would look at ways of balancing declining returns to shareholders with the need to keep investing in the business.

Some analysts said Kelda may opt to split off the non-core businesses and float them as a separate business on the stock market, rather than opt for a series of disposals.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.