Wilko jobs at risk as customer service to be outsourced

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Jan 12, 2023

Redundancies loom for struggling UK discount retailer Wilko. Reports say 95 jobs are under threat after the Nottinghamshire-headquartered firm has decided to outsource its customer service operations. 

The affected employees, based at Wilko’s contact centre in Worksop, are being consulted over the plan, reports The BusinessDesk.
 
The troubled firm, which has a sizeable in-store beauty section and operates 402 stores and employs around 16,000 staff, is understood to have enlisted an unnamed third party to handle its customer service operations.

Wilko’s digital director Ben Exall said the decision was “not something we have undertaken lightly.”
 
The job-cutting, cost-cutting news follows last week’s announcement that Wilko has secured a new £40 million revolving credit facility from restructuring specialist Hilco and made major changes to its leadership team.
 
Its chair Lisa Wilkinson, a member of the family that controls the chain, is stepping down, to be replaced by the former Bensons for Beds chair Chris Howell. Another former Bensons executive, Mark Jackson, was appointed chief executive before Christmas, with MD Alison Hands leaving this month.
 
The retailer had previously warned it could run out of cash over the Christmas period without the aid of an emergency loan.
 
At the end of November, Wilko reported losses of almost £37 million in its year-end results.