ONLINE domestic goods retail ao.com looks set to shed up to 40 jobs.

Bosses from the firm, based at The Parklands Business Park, Horwich, say they do not know precisely how many workers will be affected.

However, a member of staff, who did not wish to be named, said it was believed up to 40 jobs were under threat from a combination of the firm’s IT, marketing and people development departments.

A statement from the company — recently floated on the stock market — said: “We have announced a number of changes across our business and a number of roles are presently under review.

“This is not a cost cutting exercise as we are well on our way to fulfilling the obligations we set ourselves at the beginning of the financial year.

“However, we want to achieve this in the most efficient way and, as a result we are repositioning our structure as we focus on growth in the UK and internationally.

“The number of colleagues affected by these changes is unknown as we are currently working through the process.

"But in keeping with the ethics and spirit of openness by which we run our business, we have let colleagues know of the proposed changes and will be in consultation with them over the coming weeks.

“We are hoping to mitigate against the impact of this announcement by offering role changes and voluntary redundancy where possible. We understand that this is a difficult time for those teams affected.”

Ao.com founder John Roberts recently figured in The Sunday Times Rich List. His business was floated on the stock market in February, and was valued at nearly £1.6 billion.

Former kitchen sales manager Mr Roberts entered the list of Britain’s 1,000 richest people in 246th place with a personal fortune of £410 million.


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