GLOBAL shipping giant Maersk is axing almost 30% of the jobs at its Liverpool-based UK headquarters and has backtracked on a promise to create scores of others.

Now the region’s inward investment agencies plan to hold talks with the Danish group over £200,000 of grant money offered to the shipping line last year when it agreed to relocate its London head office to Liverpool.

The company blamed the redundancies on “the worst financial losses” in Maersk’s history.

Maersk Line UK & Ireland is reorganising its sales and customer service teams, costing 61 jobs around the country.

Its Southampton and London offices will close.

Liverpool will lose 17 customer care staff and five team leaders.

Annemette Jepsen, Maersk Line UK & Ireland managing director, said: “Whilst we’ve had to take tough decisions recently, we believe that we’ve made the right decisions for the long term.”

Last February, Maersk joined forces with the Northwest Development Agency, The Mersey Partnership and Liverpool Vision to trumpet the relocation of its UK head office to the city.

Maersk said at the time that it employed 110 staff at its Old Hall Street office in The Plaza, and added that the move was likely to “create about 70 top-level jobs.”

But a staff member, who asked to remain anonymous, told LDP Business yesterday that only 74 people now work there. Maersk refused to comment on current staff levels.

The worker also claimed only 10 jobs were created by the move from London: eight of those were filled by London staff, leaving only two jobs for Merseysiders. And they questioned Maersk’s eligibility for public funding linked to the relocation.

However, Maersk responded: “Maersk Line announced it was creating 50 new roles in the Liverpool office.

“Despite today’s announcement, Maersk Line has still exceeded the commitment of 50 new roles it made in 2009. The roles created have mainly been strategic and leadership ones to supplement the customer facing roles that already existed.”

But Liverpool business leaders are keen to quiz the company. Mark Basnett, TMP director of investment, said: “We will be meeting with their senior team to discuss this in the next two weeks.”

The NWDA said only £50k in grants had so far been paid to Maersk.