Tesco begins national briefing on in-store management job changes

Lewis wants to save £250m a year in running costs at the grocer and is reviewing the management structure in its stores as part of the changes.

Thousands of team-leader posts could be axed as part of the review after Lewis decided to extend a trial of a new structure piloted in 12 Tesco stores.

Tesco said staff head count at its stores will not be reduced, but confirmed that some workers may be asked to change their roles as part of the shake-up.

Workers union Usdaw said that talks were due to start with staff today, with Tesco chiefs poised to prioritise workers whose jobs will be affected.

Usdaw said that staff at Metro and Express stores will not be affected by the changes.

Tesco said the new management structure will help the grocer become “a much simpler and leaner organisation, with a single-minded focus on customers.”

A short statement from Tesco said: “As we explained on January 8, we are introducing a new management structure to our stores. These changes are underway and our priority is to talk to affected colleagues first.”

Tesco has already revealed plans to shut 43 unprofitable stores, shelve developments at 49 others and slash head office costs by a third.

As previously reported by Retail Week, thousands of head office staff have until Wednesday to apply for voluntary redundancy.

The move comes as new accounts revealed that Tesco lost more than £40m last year through Blinkbox.

Figures showed that pre-tax losses at Blinkbox Music nearly trebled last year from £4.6m to £12.5m, while losses at Blinkbox Entertainment, which offers film and TV series, grew to £29.5m.

Chief executive Dave Lewis has sold Blinkbox Entertainment to TalkTalk for around £25m as part of his cost-cutting drive, while rival streaming service Guvera snapped up Blinkbox Music for a cut-price £5m.