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500 New Look jobs at risk as distribution centre night shift is removed

By Nagasunder in UK Business News, posted February 17, 2023

New Look is removing the night shift at its Lymedale Business Park warehouse, which has put 500 jobs under threat.

The fashion retailer has been forced to close the night shift, as a result of its store reduction over the past few years.

Its main distribution centre in Lymedale will only operate on a day shift beginning later this year.

Employees at the 1,200-person site will now enter a consultation period, with potential layoffs announced in mid-May.

The retailer said it hoped to save 300 jobs by transferring employees to the soon-to-be expanded day shift, but that layoffs were unavoidable across the board.

The retailer announced last week it would be closing six stores across the UK.

The company is closing stores in Birmingham, Coventry, Trowbridge, Kirkcaldy, Walthamstow, and Northampton.

A New Look spokesperson told Drapers: “New Look has changed significantly over the past few years. We have accelerated our ecommerce business and right-sized our store estate.

“With this shift, it has become increasingly clear that the processes at the distribution centre no longer suit our operational needs.

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“Therefore, we are proposing a necessary change to working hours in the distribution centre, including the removal of the night shift. Regrettably, we expect this will result in a number of redundancies at the site.

“We are focusing on supporting our affected colleagues at this time and we expect to be able to offer a considerable number of these individuals new roles on the day shift.”

Source: Retail Gazette