2,000 staff under threat

ALMOST 2,000 jobs are at risk at Littlewoods and Very owner Shop Direct as it prepares to shut factories in Manchester and move to the East Midlands.

The online retailer with annual sales of £1.93bn, will close distribution centres in Shaw, Little Hulton and Chadderton. The new site is expected to create 500 jobs, but Shop Direct said redundancies are likely.

Derek Harding, interim chief executive of Shop Direct, said: ‘These proposals are necessary for our future and to enable us to continue to grow.’

Closure of the Manchester factories will start from 2020 with development of its East Midlands centre to start next month, with it coming into full use by 2021.

Shop Direct said the location next to the M1 and a rail terminal will allow it to extend the cut-off for next-day deliveries and roll out same-day delivery.