Nottinghamshire-headquartered retail giant Wilko has confirmed some staff are at risk of redundancy amid plans to outsource its customer service operations to a third party provider.
The company, which is based in Manton Wood Enterprise Park in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, said the changes will have an impact on team members currently employed in the contact centre.
It a statement, the company said staff who are impacted with risk of redundancy will be entering into a period of consultation and opportunities for alternative roles within the business will be explored.
The company says its plans to outsource its customer service operations is part of an effort to better support its customers across the nation. All of Wilko's customer enquires will be dealt with by a third party from February 2023, including over email, telephone, live chat, web chat and social media.
This change forms part of its businesses omnichannel strategy, as Wilko said it plana to use the best technology and processes available to offer aftercare to its customers whilst also improving efficiency. Ben Exall, Digital Director at Wilko, said: "Nothing matters more to us than offering a shopping experience that values our customers’ time and money, and unfortunately our current customer service processes aren’t delivering the aftercare that our shoppers need.
"Using the expertise and customer service-specific technology of a third-party provider means we can now deliver the experience that our customers rightly demand of us after visiting one of our stores or shopping via our website. This change is an integral and considered part of our overall long term omnichannel journey, as we work to improve processes and efficiency across all customer touchpoints.
"These changes will obviously have an impact on team members currently employed in the contact centre. All our team members are critical to the Wilko business, and helping the hardworking families who shop with us, so this is not something we have undertaken lightly.
He continued: "For those team members who are impacted with risk of redundancy, we will be entering into a period of consultation and explore opportunities for alternative roles within the business.” It has been confirmed that there will be no immediate change to how customers interact with Wilko whilst the company transitions to the new third party provider.
Wilko said there will be no immediate change to how customers interact with Wilko whilst the company transitions to the new third party provider.
These changes come after the news that Wilko sold its Worksop headquarters to DHL for £48m in November 2022. However, the company is not expected to be moving and will be leasing the site back from DHL as part of a new partnership.
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