95 jobs under threat as Wilko reveals plans to outsource customer service

95 members of staff at budget high street retail giant Wilko are reportedly under threat of redundancy after the Nottinghamshire-headquartered firm opted to outsource its customer service operations.

The affected employees are based at Wilko’s contact centre in Worksop. They are currently being consulted over the plan.

The troubled firm is understood to have enlisted an unnamed third party to handle its customer service moving forward.

Wilko’s digital director Ben Exall said the decision was “not something we have undertaken lightly.”

The news comes just a week after Wilko revealed it had secured a £40m revolving credit facility via a high street investor and made major changes to its leadership team. The firm had previously warned it could run out of cash over the Christmas period without the aid of an emergency loan.

At the end of November, the retailer revealed losses of almost £37m in its year-end results. This led to restructuring specialist and former Bensons for Beds boss Mark Jackson being named as the new Wilko CEO.

Wilko currently has 402 stores and employs around 16,000 people.