Tesco to axe 15,000 jobs and close deli counters...

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Tesco to axe 15,000 jobs and close deli counters...

Postby dutchman » Mon Jan 28, 2019 1:03 am

...while bakeries will be scaled back in purge on costs at 732 stores

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Tesco is set to axe about 15,000 jobs and close meat, fish and delicatessen counters in one of the biggest shop floor culls of boss Dave Lewis’s reign.

The chief executive of the Britain’s biggest supermarket will also overhaul the in-store bakeries – where frozen instead of fresh dough will be used, cutting the need for skilled bakers – and replace staff canteens with vending machines.

The plans are expected to affect the majority of Tesco’s 732 larger stores.

A typical Tesco Extra has five fish mongers, five butchers and six deli and cheese counter workers.

The Mail on Sunday understands that counters in a handful of the biggest Extra stores will open on Thursdays to Sundays – but others face closure or being scaled back dramatically.

Industry sources estimated that the move would result in the loss of as many as 15,000 staff and warned that the supermarket could lose regular customers who use the deli counter.

One senior industry source said: ‘Dave Lewis’s attitude seems to be “if in doubt, just close it” – but for elderly customers, or those on a budget, using the counters for a few slices of ham, those aren’t the days they do their shopping.’

The closure of staff canteens will mean job losses in the back office as Lewis continues his attempts to make £1.5 billion in cost savings by 2020.

Details of the seismic store overhaul comes just days after former Tesco director Carl Rogberg, who was cleared of fraud and accounting charges, attacked Lewis for paying a £129 million fine to the Serious Fraud Office for a deferred prosecution agreement.

Living up to his ‘Drastic Dave’ moniker from his time at consumer goods giant Unilever, Lewis is under pressure to stave off the rising influence of German discounters Aldi and Lidl. Both had a record-breaking Christmas, with two thirds of all shoppers heading there in December.

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