Shop Direct to realign retail team, some redundancies expected

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Jan 31, 2019

Shop Direct has begun a consultation process on the loss of an undisclosed number of jobs as it looks to realign its retail team across its fashion, home, electrical and developing categories.

The e-tailer said it will consult with trade union Usdaw on a proposal to create new and merge some existing roles within its retail planning, operations and marketing departments.

Shop Direct has been introducing several changes under the leadership of new CEO Henry Birch, including the introduction of category director across its product categories, merging the product and retail teams under the leadership of group retail director Sam Perkins and the appointment of a new chief marketing officer.

It said the latest alignment will enable it to enhance the customer proposition, attract more target customers and drive more growth and innovation.

“We are performing strongly in a hugely competitive and challenging retail market, as evidenced over Christmas when we increased group revenue by 3.7%. But as is true of all businesses, we must constantly improve the experience we offer customers to remain competitive. Continuing to innovate, realigning the way we work, enhancing our capability and simplifying our business will remain key to achieving that,” said Sam Perkins, group retail director at Shop Direct.

“This type of change is never easy but is a reality of doing business in today’s dynamic retail world. For our impacted colleagues, our commitment is that we’ll work through this process openly and transparently and with empathy and respect.”

The consultation will continue for a minimum of 45 days, with some redundancies anticipated.