16 February 2023 , 08:44
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New Look and Wilko are reportedly set to axe almost 1,000 roles in the latest mass jobs cull to hit the UK high street.
Some 500 jobs are at risk of being cut at New Look at its its lead distribution centre in Lymedale, Newcastle Under Lyme, according to Drapers.
The jobs cuts come as the high street retailer has scrapped its night shifts at the site.
This is due to New Look having reduced the number of its stores in the UK from around 800 several years ago, to around 440 now alongside a reduction in sales.
This site employs around 1,200 staff and those affected will now enter into consultations about potential redundancies which are to be announced in mid-May.
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New Look said it was to create around 300 new positions at this site and staff affected by the redundancies will be given the chance to apply for one of these new roles.
There will be around 400 job losses at Wilko and will include assistant store managers, retail supervisors, head office managers and call centre workers, the GMB Union has announced.
The household and garden retailer, which employs 16,000 people in total, has told staff it plans to reduce hours for team supervisors in 150 of its 401 stores.
This will be comparable to around 150 full-time equivalent job losses.
The cuts also include around 150 assistant store managers and about 95 workers from its contact centre in Worksop, Nottinghamshire,
Alongside this head office management roles across commercial, retail operations, merchandising, marketing and finance will go.
The GMB Union said it was currently consulting with Wilko to try and reduce the number of roles lost.
Commenting on the news, GMB Union national officer Nadine Houghton said: "Wilko is going through significant changes at the moment and ultimately the business is in a fight for survival.
"We are seeing continued and increasing job losses throughout the retail sector and this is something that warrants an urgent, strategic response from the government."
A New Look spokesperson told Mirror Money: “New Look has changed significantly over the past few years. We have accelerated our e-commerce business and right-sized our store estate.
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“With this shift, it has become increasingly clear that the processes at the distribution centre no longer suit our operational needs.
“Therefore, we are proposing a necessary change to working hours in the distribution centre, including the removal of the night shift. Regrettably, we expect this will result in a number of redundancies at the site.
"We are focusing on supporting our affected colleagues at this time and we expect to be able to offer a considerable number of these individuals new roles on the day shift.”
Mark Jackson, the chief executive of Wilko told Mirror Money: “We’ve already begun our turnaround programme to drive Wilko forward.
"As part of this, we quickly identified significant changes to the Wilko operating model to enable us to stabilise the business, and then thrive again. This includes some planned and considered changes to our management structure at both our stores and head office.
“We can’t comment on the numbers of team members affected as conversations are still ongoing, but it goes without saying, we’re fully supporting any affected individuals.
We know change will be unsettling to our team members and the wider business, and we’re acting swiftly to put in place the new organisational structure.”
Mirror Money has contacted New Look directly for comment on the news.