Mike Ashley-owned Frasers to cut a third of design and editorial staff
Mike Ashley-owned Frasers Group may cut nearly a third of staff within its design and editorial teams, according to reports.
It entered into a consultation with staff of March 7 as part of the company’s latest restructure, Retail Gazette reported.
Sources told the trade publication that the redundancy process will not affect managerial roles and will be focused on recent hires. However, it will impact employers across its London headquarters at Academy House and Shirebrook office.
Frasers Group, which owns a range of brands from House of Fraser to Sports Direct and Evans Cycles, declined to comment.
In April last year, Frasers put 100 roles at risk as part of its plans to close its Manchester office.
The company then made 45 redundancies as it moved its trading digital team from London to its Shirebrook office.
The retailer said it expected to deliver adjusted pretax profit in the range of £550m to £600m for the 2025 financial year, down from £575m to 625m previously.
“Both ahead of and after the recent Budget, consumer confidence has weakened and recent trading conditions have been tougher,” the firm said in its half year results.
Frasers expects to incur costs of at least £50m in 2026 after the Chancellor hiked employers’ national insurance and increased the minimum wage in the Budget. It said it was “working hard to mitigate” the extra costs.
This week, Frasers announced the closure of three standalone Flannels stores in Bluewater, Westfield Stratford, and Westfield White City as part of a rebrand, with store staff made redundant as part of the process.
Separately, Frasers today increased its stake in Norwegian sportswear retailer XXL ASA past the one-third threshold, triggering a mandatory offer rule.