Up to 2,000 UK jobs to go at Pizza Express and Dixons Carphone

Another 2,000 high street workers face losing their jobs after Pizza Express said it is to close 15% of its UK restaurants and Dixons Carphone said it will get rid of 800 managers in its stores.

They are the latest big high street names to announce job cuts in the wake of the economic upheaval created by the coronavirus pandemic. The jobs blow adds to the 2,600 redundancies announced on Monday at the retail and gym chain DW Sports and tour operator Hays Travel.

Later this month Pizza Express will launch a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) – an insolvency process which allows it to exit stores and cut rents – that could result in the closure of up to 70 of its 449 UK restaurants. “Our business has a long history of success, but the UK-wide lockdown has hit the hospitality industry particularly hard,” said Zoe Bowley, who runs Pizza Express in the UK and Ireland. “As a result, it is with a heavy heart that we expect to permanently close a proportion of our restaurants, losing valued team members in the process.”

Dixons Carphone said it is cutting jobs in order to create a “leaner” management structure in its stores. The retailer will axe several roles including retail manager, assistant manager and team leader and create more customer-facing jobs. The changes will result in an overall reduction of 800 roles, it said.

Mark Allsop, the chief operating officer, said it was trying to better align the shopping experience in its store and online. “We want to … create a flatter management structure and make it easy for our customers to shop with us, however they choose,” he said. “Sadly, this proposal means we have now entered into consultation with some of our store colleagues.”

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