House of Fraser will cut jobs following a review of its retail organisation structure.
The company, which employs 6,500 permanent employees and 10,000 concession staff, has refused to confirm how many jobs will be affected, but has begun a consultation with “a small number of staff” in a bid to reduce costs and hit targets.
The high street chain, which owns 62 stores across the UK and Ireland, is “looking at ways to manage its business more effectively,” according to a spokeswoman.
The cuts are the latest in a series of redundancy announcements within the retail sector – one of the worst hit by the recession.
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According to the CBI’s latest distributive trades survey, released yesterday, 49% of retailers admitted to having cut their headcount in the year to February, despite an increase in sales.
In terms of job losses, these are the worst such results since the survey began in August 1983. A similar rate is expected for March.
