International clothing chain Jigsaw is set to close its Isleworth warehouse to cut costs.

Although company tycoon John Robinson rejected suggestions his business is struggling in the economic downturn, he admitted today that 20 staff are to be made redundant.

He admitted the firm was consulting staff over the closure of its Isleworth warehouse as a cost-cutting measure.

About 20 staff are expected to go next month as the firm's two warehouses are merged into a single depot in Swindon where Jigsaw owns the freehold.

The business, which includes women's clothing store Kew, wrote to landlords before Christmas to ask if it could pay its rent monthly rather than quarterly in advance. It also replaced its auditor Simmons Gainsford with PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Mr Robinson, who is worth an estimated £55m, said: “We're looking at all our overheads at the moment. It's a shame we have to make redundancies.”

He said trading had been more buoyant than many had expected and Jigsaw remained profitable.

Mr Robinson admitted Kew was losing “a little bit of money”, but added that he expected to open three more such stores this year.

Chief executive of West London Business, Frank Wingate said: “We are sorry to see any job losses in west London. As a chamber we will talk to anyone who loses their job because of this and if Jigsaw would like to speak to us about the move it can.

“Although west London has not been hugely affected by the recession we are keeping an eye out as the year is far from over.”

Jigsaw’s last accounts, lodged at Companies House, showed profits had fallen by 70 per cent to £2.2m for the year ended September 2007.