Soho-based post-production company The Sanctuary has made 16 people redundant as part of cost-cutting measures designed to counteract falling rates.

Sixty-five staff remain at the company which will continue to focus on its core areas of corporate, promos, documentary, gaming and agency work.

The job cuts follow the relocation of employees from the Sanctuary facility on Frith Street to Great Pulteney Street in November.

Joint managing director Daniel Stracey said: “We explored all avenues before reaching this decision, one of these was raising more finance, but financial institutions are so cautious at present that reducing staff numbers was the only option left to us.”

He added: “We looked at all areas of the business, and cuts were made throughout. This was a painful but necessary move.”

The redundancies reflect a difficult first quarter for much of the post sector. Stracey said: “The market is headed for further consolidation. With this in mind, we needed to give The Sanctuary the best platform to be able to move forward.” Stracey sees digital media as a potential growth market for the company.

Sanctuary bought Oasis back in March 2007. The group also includes Funktion Design, Arias UK, O2 Duplication and Sanctuary Productions. It is currently working on Road Wars for Sky.

The Sanctuary has invested more than£2m in HD infrastructure and equipment.

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