BOSCOMBE Down defence technology company QinetiQ is set to lose three per cent of staff.

The company employs a workforce of 6,210 nationwide and is undergoing a six-week consultation period regarding a restructuring of the staff.

A QinetiQ spokesman told the Advertiser's sister paper, the Salisbury Journal, that it was impossible at this stage to give specifics of how many staff at Boscombe Down will lose their jobs, although it is understood to be about 20.

He said: “We have completed an outline design for QinetiQ that puts the right people with the right skills in the right place to deliver for our customers.

“It creates a number of new roles but will result in a net reduction of around 200 roles across QinetiQ – approximately 3 per cent of our total workforce – achieved through a number of measures, including attrition and some redundancies.

“We are committed to doing everything we can to protect employment, supporting those affected to redeploy them into new roles where possible."

He said the company was prioritising discussing the changes with individual employees across each site.