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Harrods to make redundancies of up to 14%

Tom Shearsmith
30 June 2020

Harrods is to set to make redundancies for up to 700 staff members, as the business seeks to reduce its headcount by up to 14%, TheIndustry.fashion can reveal.

In a letter seen by TheIndustry.fashion, CEO Michael Ward told staff members that the future would include transparency about the difficulties Harrods is facing as a business.

Ward confirms that "due to the ongoing impacts of this pandemic, we as a business will need to make reductions to our workforce".

"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 and frontline operations."

Teams impacted by the redundancies will primarily be in parts of the business that have been most affected by the challenges of lockdown, with inside a source close to Harrods suggesting it would also affect those on probation.

Yesterday, Harrods confirmed it was continuing with plans to open its Harrods Outlet store in Westfield London.

When asked for comment, a spokesperson for Harrods said: "We can confirm that Harrods is beginning consultation to reduce up to 14% of our current workforce of 4,800 colleagues.

"This decision was made following a thorough review into all available options, but driven by a need to aid recovery in the short-term through cutting costs and protecting the business in the longer-term.

"Throughout the lockdown period, Harrods has continued to pay furloughed employees in full and provided support through its in-house Corporate Health Service. It will continue to support employees undergoing consultation and leaving the business.

"The business will proactively support those colleagues in looking for alternative employment through our L&D and Resourcing teams. We will also ensure continued access to tools such as LinkedIn Learning, as well as access to our occupational health services and our employee support provider."

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