WOOD Group chief executive Robin Watson was adamant that the £2.2 billion takeover of the Amec Foster Wheeler engineering group it announced yesterday was about growth and not just cost cutting.

Mr Watson reckons the enlarged group will end up creating jobs as it capitalises on the opportunities to win new business that will be created by combining the two firms’ expertise.

The enlarged group will have big international operations working in areas from helping to develop oil and gas fields to designing nuclear reactors.

But he was frank that jobs will be lost under plans to squeeze £110 million annual costs out of the enlarged business. The fear must be that the companies’ Aberdeen and North Sea operations will have to bear a heavy share of the resulting pain.

Wood identified the closure of overlapping offices and the removal of duplication from back office functions as ways to save money.

Mr Watson also noted employment levels in Aberdeen are related to activity levels in the North Sea, where Wood and AFW have said conditions remain challenging.

Shell’s £37 billion takeover of BG has set a precedent that some people may find worrying. It was followed by the closure of BG’s office in Aberdeen and hefty job losses in the Granite City.

Some may take comfort from the thought the takeover may allow the enlarged Wood Group to use its muscle to get better terms from oil and gas clients.

It may also reduce the chance of the group falling prey itself to a bid.