Shop Direct plans 1,500 job cuts

Shop Direct has confirmed that it plans to close three call centres with the loss of 1,500 jobs.The home shopping group said the three affected sites were in Sunderland, Burnley, and Newtown in Powys. Shop Direct blamed the announcement on the big growth in the number of people choosing to shop online rather than phoning to speak to its operatives.

It said that over the past five years, its proportion of sales via online had increased from 18% to more than 60%. "We recognise that this is a very difficult time for those teams affected by the proposed contact centre closures," said Shop Direct chief executive Mark Newton-Jones.

The GMB union said the news was a "devastating blow" to the three affected local communities."We 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 the company," said GMB northern regional office Mick Hopper. "This announcement is a body blow in an area of very high unemployment."

The firm added that it was proposing to create 350 new jobs across its remaining sites through introducing new flexible shift patterns.Shop Direct owns brands including Littlewoods, Additions Direct, Very, Empire Stores and Marshall Ward. It also bought the Woolworths name in the UK following that company's closure, which it has turned into an internet retailer. The latest job cuts announcement comes a year after it trimmed its workforce by 1,150 positions.