Redundancies in Wales, and where to turn next.

The owner of the former Puma Energy fuel terminal says commercial operations will stop at the end of December 2026 after it failed to secure a new contract, and it has started formal consultation with affected staff. A smaller core team will stay on through an 18 to 24 month decommissioning period. No job numbers have been published, and the company says the planned MorGen green hydrogen plant on the same site is not affected.

The independent school has launched a staff consultation as part of what it calls responsible financial management. It has not confirmed numbers, but a person involved told reporters around 30 staff are at risk of redundancy or must re-apply for their roles. Fee-paying schools across Wales report pressure from falling pupil numbers and VAT on fees.

Wales' only FTSE 100 company plans to cut around 500 roles, about 5% of its UK insurance workforce, as part of a £100m savings programme. A 45-day collective consultation is under way. Around 6,700 of its UK insurance staff work in Cardiff and just under 2,000 in Swansea, and the company has not yet said which sites or teams are affected, or whether cuts will be voluntary or compulsory. Admiral says AI is not the reason for the cuts. The Welsh Government says it will offer support through ReAct+, Careers Wales, DWP and council employability services.

The insurance and pensions group, which employs more than 2,000 people at its Cardiff site, expects to cut around 1,000 jobs across the business by the middle of 2027, roughly a tenth of its workforce. It is starting with a voluntary redundancy programme for UK staff; its asset management division is not affected. How many Cardiff roles are included has not been published. Cardiff's MPs and council leader have met the company to press for redeployment over compulsory redundancies.

After six months of negotiations with UCU, Unite and Unison, the university agreed to no compulsory redundancies for academic staff in 2026 and removed the remaining 187 academics from the scope of its cuts. Restructuring of professional services continues, with a commitment to no compulsory redundancies and to offer suitable alternative roles at the same grade. The plans originally put around 400 academic posts at risk.

Since the last blast furnace closed in 2024, Port Talbot has been in a multi-year transition to electric arc steelmaking. The main construction phase began in summer 2026, and the new furnace is now expected to begin operating between late 2027 and 2028, with reports of a possible delay to its grid connection. Job losses have continued in stages across the steelworks and its supply chain, and unions and the Welsh Government continue to press Tata on support for affected workers.

The four-star hotel stopped trading with immediate effect, with staff told on the Monday afternoon, just weeks after it was named the Scarlets' official accommodation partner. Carmarthenshire Council said its priority was the workforce and that it was working with partners to support former staff, and nearby venues including the Gateway Resort offered vacancies. A High Court winding-up petition was later filed against a company linked to the site.

USW launched a voluntary redundancy scheme aiming to cut around 200 roles across its Pontypridd, Cardiff and Newport campuses, mainly in professional services, as the university responds to financial pressure facing the wider Welsh higher education sector. It follows earlier rounds of job losses across 2025.

Dow confirmed it is closing basic siloxanes production at its Barry plant as part of a wider European cost-cutting drive, citing high energy costs. Around 220 roles are affected, with roughly two-thirds of those taking voluntary redundancy after union negotiations reduced the original number at risk. Specialty silicones manufacturing continues at the site.