TIMBER-frame house builder Stewart Milne is starting to recruit again after seeing its workforce almost halved in less than two years.

Its Witney workforce was cut from almost 200 staff to 104 during the recession, but now it has changed focus to concentrate on public-sector housing such as sheltered accommodation and healthcare developments.

The factory’s managing director, Gary Yeoman, said: “The shrinking economy rapidly impacted on our business.

“Developers stopped speculative building and consumers were lacking confidence very soon after the Northern Rock crisis and we were forced to cut back from two shifts to one.

“Since then we have focused on publicly funded affordable housing projects with the benefits to that sector being speed of build and carbon reduction.”

The company’s £6.4m three-year Sigma 2 eco-home project, with Oxford Brookes University, aims to mass-produce a sustainable house.

Mr Yeoman is anticipating a return to growth from this year with seven staff already recruited and more predicted.

Last month the Stewart Milne Group, based in Scotland, reported a pre-tax loss of £27m.