A flooring manufacturer which has its European base near Bradford is set to shed jobs and move some manufacturing to Holland, bosses have confirmed.

InterfaceFLOR, which makes carpet tiles at Shelf Mills, Shelf, and across Europem is expected to make redundancies to “improve efficiencies” and ensure its future growth.

Steve Martin, director of InterfaceFLOR UK, said the proposed job losses were in response to the company’s “worst-ever” trading conditions.

Bosses are now in consultation with the Unite union, which represents workers whose jobs face the axe. It is understood that about 20 full and part-time jobs are affected.

Mr Martin said: “I can confirm that InterfaceFLOR is proposing to reduce headcount at its manufacturing plant in Shelf Mills.

“This proposal follows a review of efficiencies across our European business.

“We have started consultation with the union and the individuals at risk, and we will work hard to minimise the number of people subject to compulsory redundancy, both by offering voluntary redundancy and by redeploying operatives.”

The job cuts will come in the company’s “backing” production line of workers.

The company is proposing cutting the number of daily shifts from two to one and transfer the work to Scherpenzeel in Holland.

Jobs will also be lost in the warehouse. However, the company said it will be making further investment in its other operations at Shelf Mills.

Mr Martin said: “This will both improve efficiencies and put us in a strong position for continued growth.

“Having to propose any redundancies is regrettable but we believe it is necessary to protect the future of our business. We have performed well in challenging trading conditions, the worst we have ever experienced, but can only continue to do so by constantly looking at ways to optimise our performance.”

Bev Clarkson, regional industrial organiser for Unite, said it was not known how many people could lose jobs, and consultations between the union and the company were due to have started yesterday.