British luxury department store Harrods recently said that it is planning to cut about 672 jobs due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The store’s flagship branch on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London was closed for about three months amid the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.
The store which is now owned by the Qatar government through its investment arm Qatar Investment Authority, informed the staff about their decision to lay off nearly 14% of the 4,800 employees strong workforce. It is expected that the majority of impacted employees will be from businesses that have been worst affected by the lockdown.
Announcing the decision, Store Chief Executive Officer Michael Ward said, “With a heavy-heart, today I need to confirm that due to the ongoing impacts of this pandemic, we as a business will need to make reductions to our workforce.”
He further said that it would take a drastic change in external conditions for Harrods’ business to recover and return to growth.
“The necessary social distancing requirements to protect employees and customers is having a huge impact on our ability to trade, while the devastation in international travel has meant we have lost key customers coming to our store,” he said.
“I am sorry to say that after exploring every option available we now recognise that we need to make changes to our operational structure,” he added.
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The recent development at Harrods adds to a grim toll for the sector. Another British departmental store company John Lewis also announced that it will lay off employees, close down offices and scrap bonuses for staff in an attempt to conserve capital to tide over the coronavirus crisis.
Chairman of John Lewis, Sharon White informed the high street giant’s partners about the changes which include closing down of one its offices in London.
Meanwhile, the owner of Upper Crust restaurants and coffee shop chain Caffe Ritazza, SSP Group announced that it might cut about 5,000 jobs as part of business restructuring due to very low footfall even after the easing of coronavirus lockdowns.
Multinational catering company SSP Group operates food and beverage outlets in airports and train stations in 36 countries. It operates more than 2,800 branded catering and retail units at over 180 airports and 300 railway stations.
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