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Reports have claimed that Duncan Bannatyne may need to make 43 members of his staff redundant as a result of his impending divorce from his wife of five years, Joanne McCue. Bannatyne is reported to be worth £430 million according to the Sunday Times Rich List, but the Dragon’s Den star has refuted this, claiming that his assets amount to significantly less than the reported figure. According to reports, Miss McCue is requesting an allowance of £1,000 per day, the couple’s current house and holiday home in the South of France as part of her divorce settlement. It has also been claimed that Bannatyne feels that his estranged wife should be more considerate of the current economic climate and put forward a more sensible request. The Daily Mail also asserts that Bannatyne would need to make a significant number of his staff redundant in order to meet these demands. A spokesperson representing the Clydebank born businessman moved quickly to respond to these reports, though, having announced that both Bannatyne and his Managing director, Nigel Armstrong, have reassured all staff that they will do their utmost to avoid redundancies and maintain their employee’s job security. The reasons behind the couple’s separation have not yet been identified, though a source has claimed that the divorce has come about as a result of matters which could affect any married couple. Prior to the couple having commenced divorce proceedings, Bannatyne took to social networking site Twitter in order to inform the public of the fact that he was experiencing marital difficulties, going as far as to inform his followers that he had considered suicide. This post was later removed. Both Bannatyne and McCue have both declined to comment on the reports following legal advice.