Major Redunancies At Man UTD Following Ratcliffe Review

Manchester United is set to make a quarter of its workforce redundant, according to multiple reports.

Following a series of meetings led by Interim Chief Executive Jean-Claude Blanc on Wednesday (3rd July), the team’s 1,112 employees were told of the club’s intention to cut over 250 jobs before the start of the new football season as part of further cost-cutting measures enforced by co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

This wave of redundancies will impact all departments and levels and follows an offer of voluntary redundancy to the club’s non-football staff earlier this year.

Ineos owner Ratcliffe purchased a 27.7% stake in the club in February for £1.25bn and subsequently commissioned a wide-ranging review, led by UK consultancy firm Interpath Advisory, on ways the team could take cost-saving measures.

Initially Ratcliffe and Ineos’ involvement was thought to be limited exclusively to football operations, however, his influence has clearly stretched to all aspects of the business, with the club’s majority shareholders, the Glazer family, signing off on a raft of changes.

Following the takeover, former Chief Executive Richard Arnold, Interim CEO Patrick Stewart, Football Director John Murtough and Chief Financial Officer Cliff Baty have all departed the club, while yesterday it was also announced that Communications Chief Ellie Norman would be joining electric racing series Formula E as its new Chief Marketing Officer. 

United finished the 2023/24 Premier League season in eighth, with the new campaign kicking off on 16th August.