Sainsbury's to axe Argos depots with 1,400 jobs hit

Sainsbury's is planning to close two Argos depots over the next three years in a move that will impact more than 1,400 jobs.

The supermarket giant aims to shut its Argos warehouse in Basildon, Essex, and a depot in Heywood, Greater Manchester by 2026.

Both Sainsbury's staff and those who work for an outsourced contractor will be affected, it said.

The firm is integrating its Sainsbury's and Argos operations to cut costs.

The grocer also said it would close its Milton Keynes office in response to flexible working across the group, but stressed no jobs would be impacted by the decision.

However, it also announced that its three remaining Habitat showrooms will close later this year as it plans to launch a replacement digital showroom, which will see a small number of workers affected.

Sainsbury's chief executive Simon Roberts said it was a "difficult" decision but the business needed to become "simpler, more efficient and more effective for customers".

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"We understand that this will be an unsettling time for affected colleagues, and we will support them however we can throughout this process."

The retailer said affected staff would get the chance to "explore alternative roles" within Sainsbury's and Argos.

Sainsbury's has been trying to integrate Argos, which it bought along with Habitat for £1.4bn in 2016, with its wider business for several years.

In 2020 it shut most Argos shops on the High Street and moved 150 of them into its Sainsbury's stores, cutting thousands of jobs in the process.

Remote working

As part of the latest plans, Sainsbury's also said that it will close its office in Milton Keynes due to the growth of flexible working since Covid.

It said "on average only 11% of available desk space is regularly used by colleagues".

The retailer said its decision to launch a digital showroom for Habitat products reflected the fact customers were increasingly shopping online.

The three remaining Habitat showrooms - in Brighton, Leeds and the Westfield shopping centre in London - will close later this year.

Sainsbury's said it was in talks with the "small number" of Habitat staff about their options.

Last month, Tesco said more than 2,000 roles were at risk across its business as it announced more changes to the way it runs its supermarkets.

The grocer plans to cut 1,750 team manager posts across hundreds of its larger stores, while closing roles elsewhere.

By contrast, discounter Aldi is creating 6,000 new jobs across the UK this year.

The staff will be recruited for its distribution centres, as well as a number of new stores including in Norwich and Newcastle.