// New Look is axing the night shift at its North Staffordshire warehouse – leaving 503 workers at risk of redundancy
// Impacted workers at the 1,200 employee site will now enter a consultation period
New Look is axing the night shift at its Lymedale Business Park warehouse, putting over 500 roles at risk, Drapers reports.
The fashion retailer has been forced to shut down the night shift to due to a reduction in its store estate over several years.
It means that its lead distribution centre in Lymedale will only operate with a day shift from later this year.
Impacted workers at the 1,200 employee site will now enter a consultation period with potential redundancies announced in mid-May.
The retailer said it was looking to potentially save 300 positions by transferring employees to the soon-to-be expanded day shift but that redundancies were inevitable across the workforce.
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Last week the retailer confirmed it would be shutting six stores across the UK.
The stores the business is axing are in Birmingham, Coventry, Trowbridge, Kirkcaldy, Walthamstow, and Northampton.
A New Look spokesperson told Drapers: “New Look has changed significantly over the past few years. We have accelerated our ecommerce business and right-sized our store estate.
“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.”
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