Selfridges has commenced a consultation with head office employees over the need for redundancies. The retailer has joined a raft of peer companies which are seeking to achieve savings by cutting head office staff numbers as trading remains pressured.
Selfridges, in particular, is looking to reorganise its head office operations and is expected to merge departments and reduce overall costs.
Meanwhile, similar measures are being taken by Frasers as it determines where cuts can be made across its recently acquired brand teams.
Farfetch is also culling jobs in both London and New York as well as seeking smaller office premises in London. The business posted a loss of £140.5m in the three months to 31st March.
What we’re seeing across virtually the entire retail sector is consolidation, eradication of duplication, and much tighter management of those costs which can be controlled, against a backdrop of largely disappointing sales, falling margins and deep uncertainty around the global economic outlook.
Meanwhile, UK retailers with physical stores and shopping mall owners are continuing to lobby the government for a return to tax-free shopping for tourists in the belief that this could greatly improve trading of high-ticket luxury goods. Hospitality business owners are also pressing for this to improve demand for accommodation and restaurant bookings.
Share