River Island to cut 250 head office jobs

Fashion chain River Island is planning to cut 250 jobs at its head office as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

CEO Will Kernan has send an email to staff, which was seen by Retail Week, saying the business will “now have a requirement for some 250 fewer people in the business” due to falling footfall across the business.

“The pandemic will change our marketplace for years to come, so we have acted quickly to reassess our structure, affordability and strategy. As a business we need to be more flexible and, critically, we must remain financially viable despite the potential of significantly reduced sales in the short term," Kernan said.

It is believed that the cuts will be spread across all department's at River Island's headquarters and all affected staff were contacted this morning.

The news follows on from last week's reports that Arcadia was set to cut 500 roles at its head office and Harrods was looking to cull around 14% of its workforce, amounting to 700 staff.

As the Government's furlough scheme begins to taper at the end of the month, more retailers are expected to make significant cuts.