Home and DIY retailer B&Q has today confirmed 220 redundancies across its head office team as it seeks to reshape its main structure and focus more intensely on customers.
Following a realignment process at its head office in Eastleigh which was announced last month, the retailer has used a new approach to recruiting staff and is looking to create a team whose primary focus is on serving its varied customer base.
A spokesperson for B&Q commented: “A very different approach to creating this new organisation structure has taken place over the last few months and everyone in the team has been involved in this approach to create a more customer focused, agile, omnichannel retailer.
“The new structure includes many new and different roles and changes to ways of working to ensure that B&Q is building sustainable jobs for the future and planning for growth.
“As a result of the new structure, 100 new head office roles are being created but there will be 220 redundancies, and these people are being consulted today. B&Q is doing everything it can for those people who are affected today including enhanced redundancy packages, which go way beyond statutory requirements.”
Last month B&Q, owned by retail group Kingfisher, announced disappointing sales over its first half as poor weather dove shoppers away from stores, with total sales diving three per cent to £2 billion, declining six per cent like-for-like and this difficult trading environment made redundancies likely.
Fraser Longden, People Director at the retailer, said of the job losses:”We recognise this is a difficult time for everyone and thank everyone for their contributions to the business and this process; these changes are fundamental to creating sustainable jobs and the future growth of the business.”
