But the cull of permanent jobs is not as bad as feared last September when 600 people were put on redundancy notice as public sector contracts dried up.

New UK boss Robert Care is now in charge of the restructured business haven taken over the running of the firm this month.

Arup said the consultation resulted in 280 permanent and 230 part-time and agency roles being made redundant.

Another 86 vacant positions will now not be filled but a further 70 staff will be redeployed to offices overseas as the UK office is reorganised into five sub-regional groups.

The Arup statement said: “Following the consultation which ended on 4 December 2010, we have reduced around 670 roles of all types in the UK.

“Of these, 280 permanent roles are being made redundant, a much lower figure than anticipated, and 230 temporary and agency contracts have been ended. 86 people who have left the firm have not been replaced.

“Importantly, we have also been successful in finding roles for over 70 individuals within Arup’s operations elsewhere around the world.

“International mobility is important to us as a firm, and this reflects our desire to promote mobility even during the most challenging of times.