Virgin Media has announced that its 53 UK stores will remain closed even after the Coronavirus lockdown restrictions are lifted, meaning 341 employees who were not yet furloughed will lose their current roles.

The company stated that these staff will be offered roles elsewhere in the company, with 300 potentially moving to telephone customer care roles working from home, and a further 50 field sales roles created.

The move was largely due to sales now mostly taking place via telephone, as store footfall continued to drop. The pandemic has accelerated the move dramatically, but Virgin Media explained that it was already in the process of shifting its operations away from physical stores.

In 2016, Virgin Media had 140 stores and kiosks.

Rob Orr, executive director for sales, commented: “We are focused on delivering the service customers want, in the ways they want it and at a time and place that suits them.

“By creating new jobs in our most popular care and sales channels, we will be better able to provide our customers with the top service and support they rightly expect while retaining our talented workforce.”

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