Poundland is cutting more than 100 jobs at its Walsall head office as part of a restructure of the business.
Jobs have been cut thanks to Poundland’s withdrawal from online sales and the axing of its frozen and chilled food ranges in stores. Others relate to recent store closures, meaning a reduction in the number for head office to support.
Poundland’s restructure received High Court approval on 26 August. A-two month consultation with affected workers is due to end this week.
“We’ve made no secret of the fact we need to create a simpler and more focused business to get us back on track after a significant period of underperformance,” said a Poundland spokesperson.
“Alongside a reduced number of stores, the withdrawal from categories such as frozen food and the retirement of our transactional website and rewards app, at the beginning of August, we also proposed the removal of central roles at our Walsall CSC and the closures of our Darton and Springvale DCs to help us create a sustainable platform for the future.
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“This has involved placing a number of roles at risk of redundancy based at, or out of, the customer service centre in Walsall and at both Darton and Springvale distribution centres. It goes without saying that we have consulted formally with individuals affected by these announcements and that work is now almost complete.
“It’s sincerely regrettable that our plan to restore the business to health involves any potential job losses, but it’s necessary if we’re to achieve our goal of securing the future of thousands of jobs and hundreds of stores in the long term.
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The head office job cuts, reported first by Retail Week, follow 57 store closures across the country as a result of the restructure.
Poundland has anticipated its estate will shrink over time from about 800 when the plan was announced in June to between 650 and 700.
Poundland’s chilled and frozen DC in Darton, South Yorkshire, is closing this year under the plan, followed next year by its DC in Springvale in Bilston, Wolverhampton. Delivery volumes will be absorbed into Poundland’s remaining DCs in Wigan and Harlow.
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