Lincolnshire Co-op plans job cuts as it overhauls ways of working
Lincolnshire Co-op is reviewing its operations and planning job cuts amid rising costs and tougher economic conditions.
Employing over 2,770 people, the society runs more than 200 trading sites including food, pharmacy, post offices, travel branches and funeral homes in Lincoln and surrounding counties.
Subscribe to TRBPlans include investing in technology, including electronic shelf edge labels and self check outs, as well as making changes to its property portfolio to enable a focus on healthcare and housing.
After seeing its turnover fall by 1.2% and EBITDA drop by 35% in the first six months of its current financial year, Lincolnshire Co-op said investments and changes to the way it operates will help drive trading profit back up over the coming years.
The society runs a pharmacy warehouse in Lincoln which employs 80 people and supplies prescription medication to the co-op’s pharmacy branches. It is currently consulting on a proposal to remove 27 roles from the site as it looks to move the supply of prescription medication to existing third-party suppliers which already make deliveries to its pharmacies.
It also employs around 300 people in the support centre in Lincoln and has recently been in consultation with 52 staff about proposed changes to their roles, although compulsory redundancies have been limited to fewer than ten.
Alison Hands, chief executive of Lincolnshire Co-op, said: “Many businesses across the UK are experiencing challenges – and Lincolnshire Co-op is not immune to that.
“Our costs continue to rise, including significant increases in the National Living Wage and National Insurance, and in the latest half year financial results we reported that our turnover and trading profit are both down.
“However, we do have a strong balance sheet and reserves, as well as an investment plan which supports growth of our business to ensure we are able to serve our communities for many, many years to come.
“This plan includes new technology such as electronic shelf edge labels and self-checkouts in food stores, and improved IT systems across all our business areas. We’re also developing future areas of our business in healthcare and housing and the refocus of our property portfolio is part of that work.
“To enable us to achieve our plan, we also have to make sure we are managing our costs carefully, balancing profitability as well as alignment with our strategy and community purpose, and our future direction and growth.
“It does mean having to take difficult decisions, including reviewing our ways of working. These are processes that are never easy, and we’d like to thank our teams for their professionalism and support for each other during this time.”
