The owner of Primark has confirmed it is to slash around 400 jobs from the shop floor across UK stores after over-hauling their retail management team.
Associated British Foods, which run Primark, have also stated they are launching a new website that will display more of their products.
The announcement follows a warning about sales in the past 16 weeks being 5 per cent lower than pre-covid levels in the same period two years ago. Sales were 11 per cent below the previous trends.
Primark has reiterated that the cost of materials and the supply chain crisis has been mitigated by a favourable US dollar exchange rate compared to last year and a reduction in store operating costs.
However, it added that the business is still experiencing some delays on orders and “we expect longer shipping times to continue for some time”.
In response, 400 shop floor jobs will be cut this year. It remains unknown as to what stores will be affected by the changes, according to Mirror Online.
Kari Rodgers, Primark Retail Director for the UK, told The Mirror: “The changes we’re proposing will deliver a simplified and more consistent management structure across all of our stores, provide more opportunities for career progression and offer greater flexibility, all of which are designed to help us provide the best possible experience for both our customers and our colleagues.
“We are now focused on supporting our colleagues who are affected by these proposed changes and will be going through the consultation process.”
Associated British Foods today confirmed it is on track to launch a new customer-facing website in the UK by the end of March, and across all markets by the autumn.
The business has repeatedly rebuked calls to sell its good online.
“The new website will showcase many more of our products and will provide customers with product availability by store,” a statement said.
Commenting on Primark’s Christmas trading update, Richard Lim at Retail Economics said the business should turn its focus to online sales.
“A strong boost on last year’s heavily restricted sales period is great news for the retailer, but there’s a sober tone to these results.
“In the final run-up to Christmas, the retailer was dealt a significant blow as many consumers chose the safety of their homes instead of venturing out onto the high street to avoid catching Omicron before the big day.”
Lim added: “Consumers are now well versed in switching online and as case numbers rose, their self-imposed restrictions were accompanied with a shift to alternative brands that could offer what they wanted.
“With no transactional website to lean on, Primark was left frustrated as vital sales were mopped up by their competitors.”
Primark warned of delays on several occasions in the last year, owed to delays triggered by a combination of Brexit and the pandemic.
In September ABF said the business was “experiencing some delays to the handover of some autumn/winter inventory caused by port and container freight disruptions”.
At the time, the clothing chain said its like-for-like sales were down by 24 per cent compared with last year over a four-week period from mid-June.
However ABF finance director John Bason said the problem was “about delays rather than cancellations”, adding: “All stores got this early autumn stock, we’re fully stocked and ready for the season, there will be no shortages.”
Primark reported one of its busiest periods in history after stores returned from lockdown last year.
The chain previously said “customers came back to our stores with enthusiasm and sales reflected some pent-up demand with very high basket sizes”.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
