SurfStitch to cull US staff

surfstitchOnline sportswear retailer, SurfStitch, will cut up to 40 jobs from its business in the US by the end of October this year.

Mike Sonand, SurfStitch CEO, said the decision to restructure its US operations was part of their focus to return to profitability and be cash-flow positive during the 2017 financial year.

“Where required, we can support US customers from both our UK and Australian operations, with a much lighter local presence and without compromising on service,” Sonand said.

“This was not an easy decision to make, but we need to remain competitive in an extremely challenging North American environment, that has been particularly impacted by margin compression,” he added.

The cuts will be made through both voluntary and involuntary redundancies.

Lex Pedersen, director of business development and president of the company’s North American operations, said the restructure ‘will allow them to focus on providing their customers with an enriched online experience.’

There will be no business disruption during the transition, the company stated.

The company will provide a comprehensive review of its trading performance and an updated outlook in its full year results presentation in August, including details of the impact of the US restructure and other key initiatives for FY17.

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