DSGi sharpens axe for 50 staff

Struggling electrical retail giant DSGi has told around 50 employees working at its business unit that they could lose their jobs.

The company informed staff based at three sites in Borehamwood, Bury and Surbiton that the axe is hovering over workers at the reseller due to "challenging market conditions".

"DSGi Business is strong, but these are challenging times, and the business is focusing on doing the right thing to manage the cost base in the current environment," said the DSGi. "There is a consultation period in progress and in the event of any redundancies we will provide extensive support for our employees."

The job cull is DSGi's latest attempt to cut costs at the company, whose stores include Currys and PC World in the UK, Elkjop in Nordic countries and UniEuro in Italy. Since the start of the year it has been forced to put out two separate profit warnings.

In May DSGi's newly-installed CEO John Browett revealed plans to overhaul the firm's PC World computer barns and slash its fleet of High Street shops as part of a turnaround plan.

Come June, DSGi - which employs 20,000 staff in the UK alone - saw its annual profit dramatically tumble some 30 per cent.

In not unrelated news, employers' group the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said that a soggy August and poor summer sales have hit high street sales hard.

It published results of its distributive trades survey today that found business confidence in the UK retail sector has continued to nosedive as High Street sales fell at their sharpest pace since 1983.

Around 60 per cent of surveyed firms saw sales decline in the first of this month, with only 13 per cent reporting that sales were up in August. ®