High Street is hammered: WH Smith cuts 1,500 jobs as workers stay home

WH Smith yesterday culled 1,500 jobs and shut 14 stores as commuters and shoppers stayed at home.

Bosses cited the impact of coronavirus on passenger numbers at stations and airports and fewer shoppers on UK high streets as they cut headcount to slash costs.

At the same time Scottish fashion chain M&Co shed 380 jobs and William Hill closed 119 bookmakers.

It followed announcements earlier this week from Pizza Express, Currys PC World, Hays Travel and DW Sports, who are slashing up to 4,470 jobs between them.

More than 40,000 staff in the UK have been laid off in hospitality and retail since the start of the pandemic, according to a Mail audit. 

In total, large British firms have laid off 230,000 employees, with around 130,000 of these from the UK, the analysis found.

Experts fear this is just the tip of the iceberg and that a tsunami of job losses will come as the furlough scheme tapered off.

WH Smith has suffered a double whammy from the collapse in custom at train stations and its stores at airports such as London Heathrow and Gatwick.

Revenue was down 73 per cent in travel locations and 57 per cent overall in July due to a slow recovery, and it believes it will make a loss of between £70million and £75million in the year to the end of August. 

Yesterday, it announced it would close 14 small ‘kiosk-style’ stores but most job cuts will come at existing stores.

New data from researchers Springboard yesterday showed the number of shoppers fell 47 per cent in July compared to the same period last year. 

The opening of the hospitality industry on July 4 boosted footfall by a fifth over the month, but fears over a second coronavirus wave are still leading many to stay at home.

The Government has been criticised for failing to get office staff back to their place of work and support local businesses. 

On Monday, as few as one in six office employees of major British firms commuted to work.

London commuters alone would have spent £2.3billion in retailers, pubs and eateries close to the centre between March and June if they had not been at home, according to the CEBR economic thinktank.

Many firms are not expected to ask staff to return until well into the autumn, and Facebook, RBS and Google are allowing home working until 2021.

Thousands of jobs have already been axed at firms including sandwich specialists Upper Crust and Pret A Manger, along with restaurant chains Byron, Chiquito and Carluccio’s.

As the recession bites and unemployment rises sharply, consumers are less likely to spend, exacerbating the downturn.

The Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts that joblessness will rise to 3.6m, or 12 per cent, by the end of the year.

Retail analyst Andrew Busby said: ‘This is now the perfect storm. Despite Government help businesses have got all these costs and no revenue.

‘We’re still only seeing the tip of the iceberg – if we think this is bad we haven’t seen anything yet. We’ve got 8m furloughed but in reality they’ve been made redundant. Nobody is immune.’

M&Co, founded in Glasgow in 1961, hit trouble almost as soon as the lockdown came into force, going into administration in April. It reopened stores in June, but remained under severe pressure from Covid-19.

It said it would shut 47 stores and shed 380 jobs. It said a smaller network of high street stores leaves it in a strong position ‘with the outbreak reducing appetites to travel longer distances on public transport’.

William Hill said that ‘retail footfall will not return to pre-Covid levels’.