WHSmith to cut 1,500 jobs after customer levels drop following the coronavirus lockdown

Bosses have said that while there has been some recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic, footfall remains low and now measures are being taken to protect the company from further financial harm.

WHSmith has revealed that the travel side of the business is showing early signs of recovery however the speed of which continues to be slow.

It also confirmed that there has been progress on the high street side but that it has been impacted by low numbers of customers.

The chief executive for the WHSmith group, Carl Cowling, said that the company will do everything they can to support those who may be impacted by the announcement.

He said: “In our travel business, while we are beginning to see early signs of recovery in some of our markets, the speed of recovery continues to be slow.

“At the same time, while there has been some progress in our high street business, it does continue to be adversely affected by low levels of footfall.

“As a result, we now need to take further action to reduce costs across our businesses.

“I regret that this will have an impact on a significant number of colleagues whose roles will be affected by these necessary actions, and we will do everything we can to support them at this challenging time.”

It is not yet known if there will be any job losses in the North East.

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