Shop Direct, which owns Littlewoods, Isme and Very, has confirmed
it is cutting jobs in its buying and merchandising divisions. As
it makes the move from being a catalogue-led business into an
online retailer, Shop Direct says it “continually reviews
its operations to ensure efficiencies are met at every
level”. As a result, up to 50 roles in the buying and
merchandising function could be lost.
A further 1,800 staff are in consultation following the home
shopping company’s plans to close two of its four contact centres
due to a shift in consumer behaviour. Shop Direct says changes in
customer shopping, contact and servicing patterns have meant that
call volumes into the group’s contact centres have declined by 45
percent in the past five years, whereas contact via social media
has risen by more than 1,400 percent over the last year. As part
of its restructuring, therefore, Shop Direct has started
consultations on the closure of its Worcester and Preston sites,
and said it is transferring 1,800 of its staff to Serco, which
will now handle all its customer contacts. Some work may also be
switched overseas.
In related news, Serco has also won a contract to provide
catalogue group Freemans Grattan Holdings with contact centre
services. Under the 10-year agreement-worth £55
million-Serco will service all of FGH’s UK brands, including
Grattan, Freemans, Oli, Kaleidoscope, Look Again, Bonprix,
Curvissa and Witt International, managing seven million customer
contacts every year. The Sheffield-based contact centre will
manage customer enquiries, order processing and payments, credit
applications, mail and email. The partnership will see all 400
existing staff transfer to Serco.
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