Scottish stores in firing line as major fashion brand potentially cuts 250 jobs
A major fashion brand in the UK has reportedly filed for redundancies, with popular Scottish stores set to be impacted. Around 250 employees from across the country are potentially facing job cuts which the brand has put down to "organisational changes".Fashion retailer H&M has been a staple of the high street since its first UK store opened back in the 1970's. However, it has now filed for redundancies for its UK head office which are expected to take place between October 2 and December 31, 2026.According to the Retail Gazette, the proposed changes have allegedly been communicationed through a collective consultation process which began in April.A source has claimed that employees were told that the redundancies were due to "overlapping responsibilities" and that "decision making is too far from the customer".It has been reported that an HR1 document has been filed, which alerts the government of redundancies. With 250 employees expected to be impacted, H&M's Glasgow locations are set to be in the firing line.Additionally, job cuts are also expected throughout autumn and winter across the company's Oxford Street, Regent Street, Stratford City, Manchester, Cardiff, and Birmingham locations.While a final figure has yet to be confirmed, H&M's Oxford Street location is allegedly set to be hit the worst. The document supposedly highlights that the fashion retailer is expecting to cut 40 staff members from its employ.Speaking on the upcoming cuts, a spokesperson from H&M said: "As we announced in connection with the publication of our latest Financial Report, we are implementing organisational changes in our sales markets and within the central sales organisation."We have further reduced organisational complexity and brought decision-making closer to our customers."The fashion retailer has disputed the claim that 250 employees will be axed during the redundancies. Instead, this is the number of employees the company has communicated the job cuts to.However, it did not share an updated figure. The spokesperson added: "We kindly ask for your understanding that we will not be able to share more information."These upcoming redundancies come after the H&M Group shared its financial report. This showed that net sales for the first half of the financial year were SEK 104.4billion (£8.1billion) - down one per cent year-on-year in local currency.The reports also showed that in the 12-month period leading up to May 2026, H&M shut 128 of its stores worldwide.At the time, the chain said: "At H&M Group, we continuously evaluate and develop our store portfolio to meet our customers’ needs and offer the best possible shopping experience, both online and in our physical stores."As part of this ongoing work, we continue to optimise our store portfolio, with stores being opened, upgraded, and closed as needed."
