Jobs at risk at store axes night shift

Mar 25 2006 By Jon Griffin, Birmingham Mail

MARKS & Spencer is scrapping its overnight operation at its main Birmingham city centre store, threatening 37 jobs.

The High Street giant is disbanding the 37-strong team who work through the night stocking shelves and carrying out other out of shopping hours duties.

All workers affected will be offered other posts at the High Street store but can opt for voluntary redundancy if they wish.

But one of the overnight team, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "It's a big blow for us. A lot of the people here choose to work overnight because it suits them for various reasons. This will disrupt a lot of people's lives. It's a real kick in the teeth for us."

A spokeswoman for Marks & Spencer said: "We are stopping the through the night operation in Birmingham purely on efficiency grounds. These duties do not need to be carried out through the night.

"Staff affected are not being made redundant but they can take voluntary redundancy if they choose. Consultations are still ongoing.

"They are all being offered re-deployment into day time jobs at the store. There could be 37 more staff on the shopfloor - this is not a staff reduction exercise."

The spokeswoman said overnight operations had also been scrapped at other M&S stores, including Solihull. Staff have until the end of April or early May to decide their futures. The High Street shop currently employs 320 staff.

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