LONDON (Reuters) – British supermarket group Sainsbury’s plans to cut an additional 500 jobs and reduce its office space as it simplifies administrative functions for the post-pandemic era, it said on Wednesday.
The job cuts are on top of 3,500 put at risk after new CEO Simon Roberts embarked on a major restructuring in November that closed Argos shops and in-store meat, fish and deli counters.
The latest move will see the group vacate two floors at its headquarters in Holborn, central London, two floors at its office in Milton Keynes, outside of the capital, and one floor at its office in Manchester, northern England. Other smaller offices will also close.
“The money we save will enable us to invest in what customers really care about – lower prices, exciting new products and the most convenient ways for them to shop,” said Roberts, who succeeded Mike Coupe in June.
Sainsbury’s, Britain’s second largest supermarket group after Tesco, also said it plans to close its online fulfilment centre (OFC), or so called “dark store”, in Bromley-by-Bow, east London, as it focuses on servicing online orders from regular stores.
It said it hoped to redeploy most of the 650 workers at the centre to other stores.
Sainsbury’s’ latest job cuts come a week after rival Asda said 5,000 jobs were at risk from a restructuring.
Shares in the group, up 12% over the last year, closed Wednesday at 221.3 pence, valuing the business at just under 5 billion pounds ($7 billion).
($1 = 0.7161 pounds)
(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Alistair Smout, Kirsten Donovan)
