Tesco to cut 1,100 jobs in plan to close call centre in Wales
Up to 1,100 jobs are being axed at supermarket giant Tesco as the group confirmed plans to shut its call centre in Cardiff.
Tesco said it was set to close the 11-year-old site in February next year and move the customer services operations to its remaining call centre in Dundee.
The group said 1,100 staff in Cardiff would be affected, although it plans to create 250 jobs at its Dundee office as part of the move.
Matt Davies, UK chief executive of Tesco, said: "The retail sector is facing unprecedented challenges and we must ensure we run our business in a sustainable and cost-effective way, while meeting the changing needs of our customers.
"To help us achieve this, we've taken the difficult decision to close our customer service operations in Cardiff.
"We realise this will have a significant effect on colleagues in the Cardiff area, and our priority now is to continue to do all we can to support them at this time."
Trade union Usdaw said the decision was "devastating" for affected employees.
Nick Ireland, divisional officer of Usdaw, said: "Tesco's Cardiff call centre staff are understandably shocked by the announcement of the company's planned closure.
"This is clearly devastating news for our members and will have a wider impact on South Wales, as so many jobs are potentially lost to our local economy."
Tesco said it would be offering to move some of the affected staff to the Dundee site, where it already has 900 workers.
It will now enter consultation talks with trade unions.
Details of the call centre plans come in a difficult week for Tesco after its home delivery service was hit by a computer glitch on Tuesday, which saw thousands of orders cancelled or postponed.
Up to 10% of all orders were affected nationwide, leaving affected customers furious.
