Tesco
Ireland has made up to 25 positions redundant at its head office in Dublin as the impact of
Dave Lewis
, the parent group’s new chief executive, becomes apparent in its Irish operation.
Mr Lewis has vowed to restore struggling Tesco’s profits and said he will cut its central administration costs by 40 per cent.
He has already announced the closure of its main head office in Cheshunt in Hertfordshire, Britain. The redundancies at the Dublin head office, which employs 350 staff, are part of his campaign to cut overheads.
Tesco Ireland confirmed the cuts yesterday, but said some of the staff may stay on in newly-created positions.
“Of the roles impacted, 15 colleagues chose to avail of voluntary redundancy and decided to leave the business.”
Rumours
When asked to comment on rumours that the redundancies were just the first phase of a wave of cuts, it said it had “no specific plan for any further changes at this point” but was keeping its structure “under review”.
It reiterated that it was not planning any store closures in Ireland, as have happened in Britain.
“We are making a small number of changes in our head office to ensure that we have the right structure to support our colleagues in our stores and to free up resources to invest in providing the best experience for our customers,” it said.
Squeezed by discounters Aldi and Lidl, Tesco's market share in Ireland has declined to the point where Musgrave's SuperValu is on the verge of toppling it as the country's biggest grocer.
