Mothercare has put some head office staff across its global operations into consultation as it looks to make redundancies to save costs, Retail Week has learned.
Sources told Retail Week that as many as 150 roles are at risk, however another source close to the retailer said it would be “substantially less” than that in the UK. It is understood the consultation encompasses all head office departments.
Mothercare would not reveal how many jobs were affected.
As of March 31, 2012 some 779 staff worked at the retailer’s Watford head office.
Mothercare chief executive Simon Calver said: “As part of our three year transformation and growth plan we said that we would take out costs to make Mothercare more efficient so that it can be as competitive as possible in the market place.
“This work is ongoing and as part of our cost saving programme we are conducting an in-depth organisational review aimed at streamlining our processes and managing our costs more effectively. As you should expect we will not discuss the outcome of this review until consultation with our colleagues has been completed.”
Calver is a year into his turnaround plan for Mothercare which involves shutting 110 stores to bring its estate down to 200 shops.
Total UK sales fell 9.2% over its year to 30 March while UK like-for-likes dipped 3.6%. Its underlying pre-tax profit for the year is expected to be in line with market expectations.
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