Carpetright cuts head office jobs
May 8, 2024
Flooring chain Carpetright is cutting around 70 jobs at its Essex headquarters, equating to more than 25% of head office staff.
Reduction in roles in areas such as warehousing and IT will enable it to reduce its cost base by roughly £22m following a review by business advisers. Store numbers, services and deliveries will not be affected during the process, says the company.
The 400-store chain has been seeking cost-cutting measures after a slowdown in demand for flooring and intense competition from rivals such as Tapi.
"We've carefully examined our performance against operating costs, leading us to make difficult decisions to ensure the future success of our brand," said Kevin Barrett, CEO of Carpetright parent company Nestware Holdings.
The retailer was forced to turn to a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) in 2018 to exit under-performing shops and reduce rents but last month Carpetright said it was “not in planning” for another CVA.
Underlying losses before tax for the the 14 months to January 1, 2022 were £23.4 million, an improvement on a previous loss of £53 million.
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