BSG axes 14 staff in training rejig

City dealer Business Systems Group has denied that its decision to lay off 14 staff was a reflection of its sales performance.

MD Nick Gerard said: ?We?ve rationalised our back office processes. We?re looking at the way we do training for applications like Word and Excel, and frankly, it?s too competitive for us.?

He said that none of the people made redundant had been sales staff. But his account conflicts with claims by several industry sources that the company had shed sales staff. One dealer said that at least three had been ?key sales people?.

Another industry source said: ?The company is obviously not selling enough high-margin product. If a couple of months of poor sales can result in 14 people losing their jobs, then it?s safe to say they have some fundamental problems.?

Gerard said the company was looking to focus its training strategy on the enterprise market. He added: ?Our revenue is up 47 per cent and margins are up 27 per cent.?