Borehamwood's biggest employer this week revealed it was planning to cut hundreds of jobs in a bid to remain competitive in the telecommunications industry.

The mobile phone operator One2One, which has its headquarters in the town, has proposed a reduction of around 900 jobs 13 per cent of its British workforce.

Many of the jobs are expected to be lost in Borehamwood, as the redundancies will mainly affect staff in the customer services and corporate departments.

But the firm, which is currently building new offices in Hatfield, denied it was planning to close any of its four Borehamwood premises as a result of the cuts.

Chief executive officer Harris Jones claimed the company needed to undertake a review of its business so that it could prepare itself for the future.

"This has meant taking a realistic look at our resources and where they can best be deployed for future growth," he said.

One2One plans to shed 550 employees, through compulsory and voluntary redundancies, in its customer services and corporate departments.

A further 350 jobs will be lost gradually, when temporary employment contracts expire and staff are not replaced when they leave.

The company has 2,600 staff at Imperial Place, Studio Plaza, Elstree Tower and Elstree Gate, which are all in the Elstree Way area.

Imperial Place, as its national headquarters, houses corporate staff, and the other three sites accommodate customer services and technical employees.

One2One claimed it would consult its staff about the redundancies, and said employee consultative groups had already been established.

Last month the company announced that it was considering moving a number of its Borehamwood-based staff to its new development in Hatfield.

A spokesperson said this week: "We have no plans to move out of Borehamwood we have just extended our offices at Imperial Place."

The company, which will change its name to T-Mobile next year, now plans to focus on improving its network, to attract extra customers in a competitive market.

One2One's announcement follows the loss of around 380 telecommunications jobs in Borehamwood earlier this year, at NextCall and Redstone Telecom.