Currys group chief financial officer Bruce Marsh has insisted that artificial intelligence is enhancing its staff members, rather than replacing them.

Responding to a query of whether the business was hiring less graduates due to the increased use of AI and ChatGPT, the CFO claimed: “Our experience overall is that AI augments what our colleagues do. It enhances them rather than replaces them.

“That’s what we expect to see continue, and that’s why we’re excited to deploy AI in our business to give our colleagues basically a super intelligent assistant sitting at their side to help them be more productive and be more creative in their everyday work,” he added.

When pressed on whether the new technology had impacted hiring, he explained that Currys’ hiring had been “depressed more by the policy environment than by technological change”.

“We could be employing more people were the outside world more conducive. But it is what it is. We’ve got the policy environment that we have, and we’re building a more successful and strong and strengthening business despite it.”

His comments come as the retailer axed 80 roles from its head office last month as it looked to reduce its central cost base by 10% this year.

Meanwhile, the electrical giant’s CEO Alex Baldock urged the government to “show some urgency” with its review of the de minimis rule that allows small parcels to enter the UK duty-free.

Baldock said that higher tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump had led to an influx of cheap Chinese products flooding the UK and European markets via platforms such as Amazon, Temu and Shein.

“We certainly don’t want to see cheap, tatty and unsafe products being dumped on the UK as the European Union and the US tightens the loopholes that have allowed this stuff to flow,” he says.

“We also believe that if you want to sell to UK consumers, you should pay your full share of UK tax, both customs duties and VAT, which not all of the marketplace concerned do.

“So we applaud the government’s stated intent to look at closing this loophole, we just urge them to show some urgency with it.”

The comments come after Currys reported that its full-year profits had surged 37% to £162m for the year to 3 May 2025 after a year of strong UK sales and growing demand for its tech services and credit offer.

Group revenue at the company rose 3% year-on-year to £8.7bn, with UK and Ireland like-for-like sales up 4%.

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