Sir Christopher retired on Wednesday

The company announced the closure of its Solihull technical site on Tuesday.

Rumours have been rife at the site for days that a number of workers were going to be made redundant.

But Vodafone has denied claims an announcement was suppressed to avoid overshadowing the departure of outgoing chief executive Sir Christopher Gent.

Sir Christopher retired with a pension pot of more than �10m at the company's annual general meeting on Wednesday.

Workforce uncertainty

He was given a standing ovation by shareholders after more than six years at the reigns.

A spokeswoman for Vodafone said: "The announcement was not kept back. It was part of the ongoing business process.

"Sir Christopher retired last week and his remuneration was determined by the profits of the Vodafone Group and linked to Vodafone's global achievements."

In a statement, the company, which last year made a profit of �8.43bn, said the move would see the closure of their network management centres in Solihull.

We will be meeting with the relevant employees over the next week to discuss their options Vodafone spokesperson

As a result, the Midlands region would be absorbed into a two-region structure - a Northern Region managed from Warrington and a Southern Region managed from Hayes.

One Solihull employee, who did not want to be named, said the job losses were the "worst kept secret in the company".

They said the uncertainty among workers had lead to disappointment at the way the situation has been handled.

The company said it would do all it could to find alternative positions for employees affected by the decision.

In a statement, Vodafone said: "Vodafone is constantly reviewing the structure of its business to further improve the service we provide to our customers.

"Vodafone will do as much as possible for the individuals affected, including offering re-deployment and relocation to other operational sites, including Banbury, and a redundancy package.

"We will be meeting with the relevant employees over the next week to discuss their options."