NEARLY 4,000 jobs are at risk at a high-street giant which has stores in Hampshire.

Wilko has confirmed it has entered redundancy consultations with 3,900 members of its store supervisory team. It will also be consulting with the GMB trade union.

The discount chain, which has two branches in Southampton – one of which is in Shirley – and one in Fareham, has recently been bemoaning a rise in costs as a result of the pound's Brexit-induced collapse and said changes are required to "ensure it is best placed to continue to thrive within an ever-changing retail landscape".

It added that 1,000 new senior supervisor roles will be created as part of the shake-up, as well as a "significant amount" of customer service roles.

Hundreds of people queued when Wilko opened their new store in Westquay Retail Park in April this year, with brand manager Adam Gray saying at the time: “We have been overwhelmed by the support of the local people."

The decision to place the jobs at risk comes after Wilko posted an 80% plunge in pre-tax profits to £5.1 million in the year to January 28, with the firm pointing to "uncertain economic and geopolitical events", the collapse in sterling and the introduction of the national living wage.

Anthony Houghton, Wilko's retail director, said: "Despite the challenging retail landscape Wilko has seen both positive customer numbers and like-for-like sales growth this year.

"This is not translating into positive results despite all the hard work to reduce costs, grow own-brand and digital sales.

"Following independent studies we identified a legacy of retail structures that created complexity to manage which aren't simple, fair or transparent for our team members.

"The simpler, newly-defined store structure will give teams greater variety within their roles and result in more team hours on the shop floor, delivering a better customer experience."

The announcement comes following similar moves at other retailers.

Tesco said earlier this year it was cutting 1,200 jobs at its head office as part of a major cost-cutting drive.

Sainsbury's and Asda have followed suit, with reports suggesting over a 1,000 jobs are on the line at the supermarkets.