// Wilko plans to axe more than 400 jobs as it looks to control costs
// The GMB union said it was consulting with the retailer, which employs 16,000 staff in total, in an effort to reduce job losses
Wilko is set to cut over 400 jobs, including assistant store managers, retail supervisors, head office managers and call centre workers as the business looks to control costs, the Guardian reports.
The family-owned business has told staff it plans to cut hours for team supervisors in 150 of its 401 stores, leading to the equivalent of about 150 full-time equivalent job losses, after posting a drop in sales.
The cuts also include about 150 assistant store managers, around 95 workers from its contact centre in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, whose work is being outsourced to a South African company in late February, as well as dozens of head office management roles across commercial, retail operations, merchandising, marketing and finance.
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One worker said the changes in stores and the head office, on which a consultation began this week, came as “sales remain poor and rumours are rife about the future of the business”, which has been struggling to pay suppliers.
Mark Jackson, the chief executive of Wilko, said: “We’ve identified significant changes to the Wilko operating model to enable us to stabilise the business and then thrive again. This includes some proposed changes to our management structure at both our stores and head office.
“We’re fully supporting 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 to stabilise and grow.”
The GMB union said it was consulting with the retailer, which employs 16,000 staff in total, in an effort to reduce job losses.
GMB 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.”
At the start of the year, the business secured a £40m funding lifeline from Hilco UK, one of the high street’s most prolific investors and owner of Homebase and Cath Kidston.
The retailer swung to a £36.8m loss in January, after lockdowns, supply chain disruption and a dip in consumer demand impacted trading.
Last year the retailer warned that there was a risk of it running out of cash by the end of 2023 if trading conditions deteriorated further.
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