WH Smith could axe 1,500 staff due to plunge in customers during pandemic
WH Smith is set to axe 1,500 staff due to plunge in customers during pandemic – as devastating scale of Britain’s jobs bloodbath rises above 100,000 workers facing redundancy
- High street giant says the proposals expected to cost between £15m and £19m
- Group revenues were down 57% in July compared with the same month last year
- Retailer expects to make loss of between £70m and £75m for the year to August
Published: 04:46 EDT, 5 August 2020 | Updated: 05:09 EDT, 5 August 2020
WH Smith is set to axe up to 1,500 jobs after a plunge in customers going into its stores during the coronavirus pandemic.
The high street giant said today the proposals are expected to cost the company between £15 million and £19 million, after group revenues were down 57 per cent in July compared with the same month last year.
It is the latest victim of Britain’s jobs bloodbath, with the number of workers facing redundancy as a result of the Covid crisis now above 100,000.
WH Smith is set to axe up to 1,500 jobs after a plunge in customers going into its stores during the coronavirus pandemic
The retailer said it now expects to make a loss of between £70 million and £75 million for the year to August.
WH Smith group chief executive Carl Cowling said: ‘In our travel business, while we are beginning to see early signs of recovery in some of our markets, the speed of recovery continues to be slow.
‘At the same time, while there has been some progress in our high street business, it does continue to be adversely affected by low levels of footfall.
‘As a result, we now need to take further action to reduce costs across our businesses.
‘I regret that this will have an impact on a significant number of colleagues whose roles will be affected by these necessary actions, and we will do everything we can to support them at this challenging time.’
More follows.
