Selfridges to axe 450 jobs amid sales slump fears

SELFRIDGES will cut 450 jobs after warning annual sales are expected to be ‘significantly less’ than last year.

The department store said it will reduce its headcount by 14 per cent to cope with the impact of the coronavirus lockdown and social distancing measures.

The retailer shut its stores in March before reopening in June, with its restaurants and hair salons welcoming customers this month.

But footfall has been vastly reduced on pre-pandemic figures, with London’s Oxford Street – site of the flagship store – eerily empty.

In a message to staff, bosses warned the recovery will be ‘slow’, stressing 2020 will be ‘the toughest year we have experienced in our recent history’. Managing director Anne Pitcher said high streets were changing even before Covid-19 and the business – which has stores in London, Birmingham and Manchester – has been forced to make ‘fundamental changes’.

The chain, which has around 3,200 employees, will start a consultation period to discuss the proposals. The store chain was founded by American retailer Harry Gordon Selfridge in 1908 with the Oxford Street store in London opening in 1909. Stores opened in Manchester’s Trafford Centre in 1998, the city’s Exchange Square in 2002, and in Birmingham’s Bullring in 2003.

This month Fortnum & Mason launched a consultation with the hope of making 50 redundancies and Harrods axed 670 staff.

The three companies are heavily dependent on tourists.