Littlewoods culls IT staff as part of its restructure

Littlewoods has informed 66 employees in its IT department that their jobs will be cut.

The retailer, bought by the Barclay Brothers last year, has said about 228 jobs will go as Littlewoods separates its home shopping and high street divisions.

Cuts have also been made in administration, including 19 in HR. Industry sources said some staff from the buying department are already on gardening leave.

Ten staff responsible for ethical trading have also been told their positions will no longer exist.

Shop workers' union Usdaw is holding weekly meetings with members and management at Littlewoods to negotiate redundancy terms.