TradeWindow cuts dozens of jobs, staff take pay cuts

By earthnews
12 months Ago

TradeWindow cuts dozens of jobs, staff take pay cuts

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Earlier this year, TradeWindow tried to raise $20m in capital to fund growth, but only secured $5.4m.
Photo: AFP

Troubled trade software company TradeWindow is cutting 32 full-time jobs as it looks to save money, while a number of remaining staff and directors are taking temporary pay cuts.

The job cuts, signalled earlier this month, meant 40 percent of its 80 staff would be let go, with the bulk of the redundancies completed by the end of the month.

The company also announced it has trimmed its half-year loss by a third to $4.8 million, as trading revenue rose by 25 percent, and has reduced its monthly average cash burn from $1 million to $700,000 – excluding the job cuts.

Earlier this year, TradeWindow tried to raise $20m in capital to fund growth, but only secured $5.4m.

Meanwhile, an $11.1m deal with British firm nChain for a near 20 percent stake was not settled due to leadership changes at nChain.

“These constraints have necessitated a further reorganisation, as signalled earlier this month, to conserve capital, and put the company on an accelerated path to financial sustainability,” chair Alasdair MacLeod said.

Chief executive AJ Smith said despite the challenges, the company continued to consolidate its presence in the New Zealand export sector, while growth continued despite the headwinds.

“We have increased our penetration into the Australian freight forwarding market, assisted by our achievement of becoming an accredited issuing body for Australian Certificates of Origin,” Smith said.

“Constraints on funding have required the company to refocus on our ‘land’ and ‘grow’ pillars of our strategy. This means scaling back innovation and development and instead focusing on growing revenues from profitable core products.”