The paint manufacturer behind Dulux is to cut about 2,000 jobs worldwide in a bid to slash costs. AkzoNobel said that it planned to complete a programme of redundancies by the end of 2025 to make its operations more efficient. The Dutch group, which has operations in 150 countries including the UK and is valued at €10bn (£8.4bn), said on Tuesday it would “streamline” its management structure through the cuts. The move will affect more than 5% of its 35,700 global employees. AkzoNobel has about 3,500 employees in the UK and Ireland across 15 sites, including nine factories. The firm has not disclosed how many UK staff will be affected. The group’s cost-cutting efforts come against a backdrop of continued inflation in the building materials industry and higher wages. It recently reported that pretax profits rose by over a quarter in the first half of the year to €496m (£413m), owing to tight control over its cost base. Greg Poux-Guillaume, the chief executive of AkzoNobel, said: “Over the last three-quarters, we have demonstrated our ability to grow. We aim to accelerate profitable growth by optimising our functional organisation to become more agile in volatile markets and offset headwinds such as rising labour cost.” AkzoNobel bought Dulux through the 2007 takeover of ICI, the group formed in 1926 from the merger of four British chemical companies.