Dixons Carphone is to axe 140 jobs across its central functions as boss Alex Baldock ramps up his transformation plans.

Retail Week can reveal that the embattled electricals business will strip out 141 roles, the majority of which will be lost at its main head office in Acton.

According to an internal memo seen by Retail Week, roles will also be cut from offices in Poole, Loughborough, Warrington and in Ireland.

Customer-facing store staff will not be affected by the changes.

Dixons Carphone has launched a consultation with 190 staff as part of the proposals. It plans to create 47 new roles following that process.

The memo, circulated to staff this morning by Baldock, said: “We set out our vision last year and we’re now making strong progress in our transformation to be a world-class business.

“To continue to Perform as we Transform, we’re investing as never before and that means we need to be more efficient today to become One Business.”

He added: “These are not decisions that we have taken lightly but are necessary if we are to achieve this vision of ours.

“We will, of course, make sure that every colleague impacted is properly supported throughout the process.”

Former Shop Direct boss Baldock is battling to rejuvenate Dixons Carphone’s fortunes after the retailer’s pre-tax profit shrunk 22% to £298m in the year to April 27, 2019.

At the time of its results last month, Baldock said the mobile phone market in the UK was changing faster than the business had expected. He said Dixons Carphone was accelerating its transformation plans as a result, to keep up with the pace of change.

But Baldock warned there would be “more pain” to come for the group’s mobile phone division, despite his blueprint to revive that part of the business.

His five-year transformation plan includes merging the Currys PC World and Carphone Warehouse teams and improving its customer service proposition by investing £200m in staff training over the next three years.

Last September, he axed more than 200 head office jobs, impacting its supply chain and operations, business-to-business and senior retail leadership teams.

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