MILITARY communications firm Selex Elsag is planning to close its Liverpool site in a move that threatens up to 45 jobs.

The Italian-owned company, which makes secure communications systems, says it has been hit by a reduction in Government spending in a “very challenging business environment”.

It plans to move work from its site in Edge Lane, which employs 45 people, to a sister site in Bristol.

Essex-based Selex plans to reduce its workforce by another 30 positions. But it said that some of the 75 employees affected across the country would be given the chance to relocate to Bristol or start working from home.

It said: “The proposed rationalisation is intended to ensure that the company has an effective operating structure, can continue to retain the best skills in the industry, while improving its competitive position.”

Selex Elsag senior UK vice president, Phil Robinson said: “Whilst we regret having to make this announcement, it is necessary to take appropriate action to address some of the difficulties facing our business and to ensure that we remain competitive and meet our customers’ requirements for the future.

“Cyber security is a major component of SELEX Elsag’s strategy for business growth and an area of on-going investment to meet growing demand in the UK and elsewhere.”

Selex’s Liverpool Innovation Park (LIP) plant can trace its history back  to the former Plessey Crypto company.

Today Selex Elsag, which currently employs 700 people across the UK, is part of the Italian Finmeccanica group.

Selex Elsag describes itself as “a major supplier of communications solutions for connecting and protecting military and civil customers on land, air and sea”.

On the LIP website, it said: “In Liverpool we have a community of specialist software, hardware, and integration development engineers supporting communications and security solutions in military and key civil markets”.