Tesco continues cost-cutting drive as it axes 1,200 jobs at its head office

TESCO IS to axe 1,200 jobs at its head office as part of a major costcutting drive at Britain’s biggest retailer.

The supermarket giant informed affected staff yesterday about the cull, which amounts to a quarter of employees at offices in Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield. A number of jobs at a support centre in Bengaluru, India, will also be cut.

Tesco is in the midst of a turnaround plan under chief executive Dave Lewis and last week said 1,100 jobs would be axed after confirming plans to shut its call centre in Cardiff.

A Tesco spokesman said: “Today we have shared with colleagues across Tesco changes that we plan to make to the way we operate our business. This is a significant next step to continue the turnaround of the business.

“This new service model will simplify the way we organise ourselves, reduce duplication and cost but also, very importantly, allow us to invest in serving shoppers better.

“We have made good progress so far in our turnaround but we have more to do. We will work with colleagues to support them as we go through this important transition.”

Mr Lewis, dubbed “Drastic Dave”, has been hailed for leading a turnaround of the supermarket since taking the helm in 2014.

During his time as chief executive, Mr Lewis has ordered more than 10,000 job cuts spanning head office, supermarkets and overseas operations.

Earlier this month, he warned of “tough market conditions” as soaring inflation results in higher shop prices and squeezes consumer spending.

Nevertheless, Tesco boasted of “significant market out-performance” as it notched up UK likefor-like sales growth of 2.3 per cent in the first quarter.

The company is in the midst of a £3.7bn merger with food wholesaler Booker, which Mr Lewis has described as a “huge opportunity”.