Up to 70 people are expected to lose their jobs at Shop Direct Group after a management restructuring.
The retailer said that the restructuring will affect 100 management roles at its head office in Speke, Liverpool. As well as some roles being scrapped, a number of new roles will be created and some reporting lines and responsibilities changed.
Shop Direct said that the job losses were a consequence of its changing business. More sales now come from online than from its traditional catalogues.
Commenting on the changes, chief executive Mark Newton-Jones said: “We recognise that this is a difficult time for those members of the team impacted by the review, but are confident we now have the right management structure in place to continue our growth as the UK’s leading online and home shopping retailer.”
A spokeswoman for Shop Direct Group, formerly Littlewoods, refused to rule out further redundancies and said: “The changes are a result of our focus on our online business strategy. As we evolve and our online sales increase, we will continue to adapt our business model to meet the new requirements.”
She stressed that Shop Direct’s sales were still growing and the job losses were the result of the new business focus and not the trading environment.
Sales for Shop Direct Group online sales now account for more than 50 per cent of the retailer’s total, and the proportion is likely to increase to 70 per cent by 2011.
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