British supermarket chain Sainsbury’s plans to close two Argos depots over the next three years, a move that will impact 1,400 jobs, reports stated on Tuesday (28).
The supermarket giant aims to shut its Argos warehouse in Basildon, Essex, and a depot in Heywood, Greater Manchester by 2026. Both Sainsbury’s staff and those who work for an outsourced contractor will be affected, it said.
The firm is integrating its Sainsbury’s and Argos operations to cut costs.
The grocer also said it would close its Milton Keynes office in response to flexible working across the group, but stressed no jobs would be impacted by the decision. It said “on average only 11% of available desk space is regularly used by colleagues”.
“We understand that this will be an unsettling time for affected colleagues, and we will support them however we can throughout this process.”
The retailer said affected staff would get the chance to “explore alternative roles” within Sainsbury’s and Argos.
Trade union, however, has blasted the plans, saying there was “no economic justification” for the job losses.
Unite national officer Matt Draper said that management at Argos/Sainsbury’s has yet to provide any form of business case for the loss of these jobs.
“Unite will be fighting to preserve every job and will put forward an alternative business case to the company to preserve employment at these two sites.”
Sainsbury’s, which bought Argos for £1.4bn in 2016, said it was consulting closely with unions on the closures.
Mr Roberts said: “We understand that this will be an unsettling time for affected colleagues, and we will support them however we can throughout this process.”
The supermarket has already moved to save costs by closing fresh food counters and cafes. It is also closing the three remaining Habitat showrooms that it still operates.
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