Shop Direct, one of the UK’s largest online retailers, is to eliminate 1,500 jobs at its call centres in the North of England as phone sales continue to fall.

The group, which was formerly Littlewoods Home Shopping, said that it would make the cuts at centres in Sunderland, where 900 jobs would be lost, as well as in Burnley, Lancashire, and Newtown, Wales.

Online retailers have fared better in the recession than high street stores.

However, Shop Direct, which is owned by the Barclay twins, owners of The Telegraph Group newspaper titles, said that online success had caused a drop in traditional phone sales.

Last year Shop Direct closed its call centre in Crosby, Merseyside, resulting in the loss of 1,000 jobs.

The group confirmed today that the cuts were part of its transformation into an online-based business.

As many as 350 new roles may be created at the remaining call centres, it said.

In a statement, Shop Direct said that it had been left with overcapacity in its call centres as more people shopped online.

It added that 60 per cent of its business was now done online, with only 19 million calls taken in its contact centres last year, compared with 33 million calls four years ago.

Mark Newton-Jones, the chief executive of Shop Direct, said: “We recognise that this is a very difficult time for those teams affected by the proposed contact centre closures.

“We are working closely with the trade unions to help staff through the consultation process and support them in finding future employment.”

Four call centres remain, and a company official said that it was too soon to tell whether further job cuts would occur as online share increased, but that the popularity of internet sales was certainly “a trend”.

Mick Hopper, a representative of the GMB geneal union said that members were devastated by the news.

“GMB have been in negotiations with the employer over a long period to arrive at work practices and terms and conditions of employment to ensure the success of this employer,” he said.

“This announcement is a body blow in an area of very high unemployment.

“GMB will do everything we can to lessen the impact of this disastrous announcement during the 90-day consultation period.”

Shop Direct reported this month that sales had increased by 6.3 per cent over the six weeks to January 1, boosted by a 19 per cent increase in online sales.

Steve Makin, the finance director, confirmed that Shop Direct had been approached by parties interested in running a high street franchise of the Woolworths brand, which Shop Direct bought from administrators a year ago to resurrect online.

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Source : The Times

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