New Look puts hundreds of jobs at risk at lead distribution centre

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New Look could be making redundancies of more than 500 jobs after reports that it shut down night shifts at its lead distribution centre in Lymedale, Newcastle-under-Lyme, as first reported by Drapers.

The withdrawal of the night shift reportedly impacts 503 members of the 1,200 workforce total at the centre.

The retailer said its “operational needs” of the distribution centre have changed and the announcement comes as a result of a hike in online trading and a reduction in New Look’s store estate.

A consultation period is underway with the potential job cuts anticipated to be confirmed in May, despite the retailer suggesting that around 300 jobs could be saved by transferring night shift workers to a daytime shift.

A New Look spokesperson said the change was “necessary” and added: ”Regrettably, we expect this will result in a number of redundancies at the site.

“We are focusing on supporting our affected colleagues at this time and we expect to be able to offer a considerable number of these individuals new roles on the day shift.”

The fashion retailer has also revealed a new partnership with post-purchase experience and returns management platform parcelLab in a bid to enhance customer experience and build relationships.

The platform provides a messaging service, order status updates to shoppers and personalised recommendations based on their individual purchase trends and activity.

New Look said its investment in the platform will provide its customers with “greater transparency” and it hopes the collaboration can support its growth plans and “wider drive to continue leading in customer-centric fashion”.

This follows Retail Week’s revealing last week that New Look has started a trial of charging customers £1.99 for postal returns of online orders.