Up to 90 employees of BP Lubricants Europe based at Swindon could be handed redundancy notices at the end of the month.

The aftermarket oil operation is undertaking a review, and has warned staff that internal reorganisation is likely to lead to one in three positions being axed.

It blames huge demands for oil from the emerging motor markets in China and India for driving up costs in the UK.

Dave Burns, Northern Europe space manager for BP Lubricants Europe – OEM and workshop marketing, says most of the “between 70 and 90” jobs affected would be in back-office roles, such as marketing and sales. His own job is also on the line.

“We don’t want to take much out of the customer-facing side but we have to be running as efficiently as we can be,” Burns says. “It will affect customers to an extent, but we will still deliver a high level of service.”

In October, BP launched Castrol Service Rewards, an aftersales support programme for franchised dealers. Burns says it has been well received in principle but describes it as “a slow burner”. The target for this year is to get 50 dealers on board with the scheme.