Birmingham based engineering group IMI have announced over 1,200 job losses following a review of worldwide operations. It is exected that around 200 of the job losses will be UK based.

Worldwide the group employs some 19,000 staff. The operational review follows a difficult second half last year where earnings from US operations were affected by the economic slowdown. The US accounts for around a quarter of the group’s sales.

The group’s profits for last year were up 2.3% to £148.3 million.