Wickes to cut 100 head office jobs

Written by Peter Walker

15/05/18

Wickes will cut a third of the jobs at its head office in Watford in the face of mixed trading conditions. This translates to approximately 100 out of 7,000 roles across the business.

A statement explained that it is “committed to fully supporting all those affected”, but that in order to drive growth, the support centre has been reshaped to be leaner and more agile, with a “focus on key areas of growth in our multi-channel/digital businesses”.

Parent company Travis Perkins revealed last month that its consumer division - which includes Wickes - saw like-for-like sales drop 4.6 per cent in the first three months of 2018, alongside a total sales drop of 3.1 per cent.

Chief executive John Carter said at the time that while the mixed trading conditions are expected to continue in the near-term, “we remain confident in the longer term outlook for the building materials market, with opportunities to grow and outperform through the investments we are making to develop or extend our strong customer propositions”.

No further details were given at this stage.