Reuters
British online retailer Shop Direct, the group behind Very.co.uk, and Littlewoods.com, said it planned to close three of its distribution sites which could result in up to 2,000 job losses.
The company said on Wednesday that the closures would come as a result of its plan to build a larger fulfilment centre in the East Midlands which would employ about 500 permanent staff when it opens in 2020.
That centre would replace its existing three sites in the Greater Manchester area from mid-2020 resulting in redundancies. Those three sites currently employ 1,200 permanent employees and 800 agency staff.
Shop Direct is owned by billionaire twin brothers David and Frederick Barclay, owners of the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
