Tesco to create 3500 new jobs
Tesco Express conversions underway
July 17 2003
Tesco has announced plans to create 3,500 new job across the UK, although some IT staff face job losses as a new business support centre opens to India.
The conversion of the One Stop convenience store chain to the Tesco Expess format will see 1400 new job created. The first converted stores open this week in Milton Keynes, Oldham, Reading and Wickford, with 450 of the 900-plus stores scheduled for rebranding over the next three to four years. The remainder will continue to trade under existing formats.
Tesco also said that strong trading performance has led to the creation of an additional 2000 jobs in stores. The extra positions have been created to boost customer service.
With the Tesco Talk fixed line telecoms due to launch in September, 50 jobs will be created in Tesco’s telecoms division over the next year. Tesco aims to launch branded pre-paid mobile phones in stores and through Tesco.com in time for Christmas.
Tesco is developing a new business support centre focused on IT. The centre will be located in Bangalore, India where Tesco already has a non-food sourcing team, and will be operational by the middle of next year. Tesco said that “although 350 roles will transfer to the new service centre from Tesco UK operations over the next 12 months, decisions like this make UK jobs more secure because the Tesco business will be stronger and more able to grow.”
The UK’s biggest retailer pledged support for any staff affected, with those who are willing to change their role and location able to do so.
David Potts, retail director said: “The new jobs we are announcing come in addition to the 10,000 new UK jobs we announced during our annual results. We now employ more than 220,000 UK employees.
“Lifestyles are changing and Tesco is changing with them. We are innovating by strengthening our convenience offer, entering the telecoms market and opening a high tech service centre. These are all part of our evolutionary drive to create value in a highly competitive world.”
