Boots warns of more job cuts

STAFF at Boots' head office have been warned that the retailer plans further job cuts on top of 900 revealed last week.

The group, headed by chief executive Richard Baker, had already said it would cut the 3,000-strong Nottingham headquarters staff to 2,100 by late summer.

But a company spokesman said: 'We have been quite open in telling people that this is not the end. We will always be looking to modernise, and there are bound to be more posts that go.' He would not speculate about the scale of further cuts.

Boots believes it will be able to trim its workforce when it finishes standardising its computer systems. There are several different systems running in parallel, which causes problems exchanging information between different areas of the organisation.

Boots has long been recognised as having one of the most generously staffed head offices of any retailer.

After the latest cuts are completed, there will be one worker for every £2.5 million of turnover - about the same level as Marks & Spencer.

Tesco's head office staff of 5,000 achieves a figure of more than £5 million per employee, while Sainsbury's figure is £4.4 million a head, not counting its US staff. But the most striking achievement is by Bradfordbased supermarket group Wm Morrison, now in the throes of taking over Safeway. It has a head office complement of only 425 people.

DIY group B&Q is axing 150 junior managers in a cost-cutting drive that staff believe is part of a plan to groom the company for sale.

B&Q, owned by Kingfisher, is cutting the jobs among supervisors who earn £8 an hour, compared with £5 an hour paid to shop floor staff.