The man who launched BuzzFeed in Britain has been made redundant

Channel 5

Luke Lewis, the founding editor of BuzzFeed UK.

• Exclusive: BuzzFeed UK's founding editor-in-chief has been made redundant.
• He is one of 45 staff being let go as part of a global cost-cutting programme.

Luke Lewis, the man who launched BuzzFeed in the UK, has been made redundant after nearly five years.

Lewis was appointed as BuzzFeed UK's founding editor-in-chief in March 2013, but has been working as the company's head of European growth since December 2015.

He is one of 45 members of staff being made redundant in the UK as part of a global cost-cutting programme announced in December last year. Two sources told Business Insider that his redundancy was not voluntary.

Lewis did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment. An automated response from his email account said "LukeLewis [sic] is no longer at BuzzFeed."

Around 20 editorial employees have announced their departure on Twitter (all listed here). They include Editorial Director Tom Phillips, Editor-At-Large Robin Edds, and Jamie Ross, a reporter based in Scotland.

The flurry of tweets has been so pronounced, that they have become known as "last day at BuzzFeed" among some observers on Twitter.

The 45 redundancies are around a third of BuzzFeed UK's 140 staff. Another 55 will also lose their jobs in the US.

It comes against a backdrop of missed revenue targets. BuzzFeed has come in 15-20% short of its $350 million (£260 million) goal, dampening prospects of an imminent IPO.

Lewis joined BuzzFeed from NME.com, where he was the editor. Former Guardian journalist Janine Gibson is BuzzFeed UK's current editor-in-chief.