WH Smith may cut 1,500 jobs after sales plummet

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WH Smith and Post OfficeImage source, WH Smith

WH Smith is considering cutting 1,500 jobs - 11% of its workforce - after the lockdown caused sales to plummet.

Most of the jobs being lost will be at the company's travel sites, situated at airports and railway stations.

The firm said the impact of the coronavirus outbreak meant it expected to report a loss of £70-75m for the year to the end of August.

WH Smith is the latest High Street name to consider job cuts amid the disruption caused by the pandemic.

The company has 575 High Street shops and employs more than 14,000 people. Revenue at its travel division, which includes stores at airports and rail stations, fell 92% in the first month of lockdown.

At its High Street division, sales were still 25% down in July after lockdown eased.

WH Smith said it had now reopened all its High Street stores and 246 of its largest travel division sites, those in airports, railway stations and hospitals.

The announcement comes after William Hill said 119 of its High Street betting shops would not re-open after the shutdown forced by the coronavirus outbreak. Also on Wednesday, fashion chain M&Co said it, too, was cutting 340 jobs and closing 47 stores.

Image source, WH Smith
Image caption,

WH Smith will have fewer outlets at airports and railway stations

WH Smith, which made £155m in profit last year, said the job cuts and associated restructuring would cost it between £15-19m, but added it had enough funds to get through a prolonged downturn.

Group chief executive Carl Cowling said: "While there has been some progress in our High Street business, it does continue to be adversely affected by low levels of footfall.

"As a result, we now need to take further action to reduce costs across our businesses. I regret that this will have an impact on a significant number of colleagues whose roles will be affected by these necessary actions."

He added that the company would do "everything we can to support them at this challenging time".

News of the latest cuts comes after a wave of retail redundancies. On Monday, DW Sports said up to 1,700 jobs were at risk. John Lewis, Marks and Spencer, Boots and Selfridges are among other big names to announce job cuts.

The restaurant sector has also been hit hard, with Pizza Express warning on Tuesday that 1,100 jobs could go as part of a restructuring that could see 15% of outlets shut.

And the travel and tourism sector continues to suffer, with Hayes Travel saying on Monday that almost 900 jobs would go.

Image source, Matthew Horwood

Barely a week into August, and already some 6,000 jobs have been lost or are under threat as the furlough scheme starts to wind down.

Here, courtesy of the Press Association news agency, is a list of major employers that have announced that jobs will be lost, or are at risk, since the start of the pandemic.

August 4: Dixons Carphone - 800

August 4: Pizza Express - 1,100 at risk

August 3: Hays Travel - up to 878

August 3: DW Sports - 1,700 at risk

July 31: Byron - 651

July 30: Pendragon - 1,800

July 29: Waterstones - unknown number of head office roles

July 28: Selfridges - 450

July 27: Oak Furnitureland - 163 at risk

July 23: Dyson - 600 in UK, 300 overseas

July 22: Mears - fewer than 200

July 20: Marks & Spencer - 950 at risk

July 17: Azzurri Group (owns Zizzi and Ask Italian) - up to 1,200

July 16: Genting - 1,642 at risk

July 16: Burberry - 150 in UK, 350 overseas

July 15: Banks Mining - 250 at risk

July 15: Buzz Bingo - 573 at risk

July 14: Vertu - 345

July 14: DFS - up to 200 at risk

July 9: General Electric - 369

July 9: Eurostar - unknown number

July 9: Boots - 4,000

July 9: John Lewis - 1,300 at risk

July 9: Burger King - 1,600 at risk

July 7: Reach (owns Daily Mirror and Daily Express newspapers) - 550

July 6: Pret a Manger - 1,000 at risk

July 2: Casual Dining Group (owns Bella Italia and Cafe Rouge) - 1,909

July 1: SSP (owns Upper Crust) - 5,000 at risk

July 1: Arcadia (owns TopShop) - 500

July 1: Harrods - 700

July 1: Virgin Money - 300

June 30: Airbus - 1,700

June 30: TM Lewin - 600

June 30: Smiths Group - "some job losses"

June 25: Royal Mail - 2,000

June 24: Jet2 - 102

June 24: Swissport - 4,556

June 24: Crest Nicholson - 130

June 23: Shoe Zone - unknown number of jobs in head office

June 19: Aer Lingus - 500

June 17: HSBC - unknown number of jobs in UK, 35,000 worldwide

June 15: Jaguar Land Rover - 1,100

June 15: Travis Perkins - 2,500

June 12: Le Pain Quotidien - 200

June 11: Heathrow - at least 500

June 11: Bombardier - 600

June 11: Johnson Matthey - 2,500

June 11: Centrica - 5,000

June 10: Quiz - 93

June 10: The Restaurant Group (owns Frankie and Benny's) - 3,000

June 10: Monsoon Accessorise - 545

June 10: Everest Windows - 188

June 8: BP - 10,000 worldwide

June 8: Mulberry - 375

June 5: Victoria's Secret - 800 at risk

June 5: Bentley - 1,000

June 4: Aston Martin - 500

June 4: Lookers - 1,500

May 29: Belfast International Airport - 45

May 28: Debenhams (in second announcement) - "hundreds" of jobs

May 28: EasyJet - 4,500 worldwide

May 26: McLaren - 1,200

May 22: Carluccio's - 1,000

May 21: Clarks - 900

May 20: Rolls-Royce - 9,000

May 20: Bovis Homes - unknown number

May 19: Ovo Energy - 2,600

May 19: Antler - 164

May 15: JCB - 950 at risk

May 13: Tui - 8,000 worldwide

May 12: Carnival UK (owns P&O Cruises and Cunard) - 450

May 11: P&O Ferries - 1,100 worldwide

May 5: Virgin Atlantic - 3,150

May 1: Ryanair - 3,000 worldwide

April 30: Oasis Warehouse - 1,800

April 29: WPP - unknown number

April 28: British Airways - up to 12,000

April 23: Safran Seats - 400

April 23: Meggitt - 1,800 worldwide

April 21: Cath Kidston - 900

April 17: Debenhams - 422

March 31: Laura Ashley - 268

March 30: BrightHouse - 2,400 at risk

March 27: Chiquito - 1,500 at risk.