Naked Wines is axing jobs as it looks to slash costs in a bid to claw back profit.
Founder and executive chairman Rowan Gormley, who was drafted back into the business in July last year, said that the online wine retailer had become a “smaller company” post-pandemic and was forced to adjust its cost base to reflect this.
The job cuts impact “all levels of the organisation”, with around 50 jobs thought to be affected, and will save Naked Wines £7m a year.
It comes as sales at the wine retailer fell 10% year on year in its golden quarter, while its average repeat customer base also dropped by 12%.
Gormley described the decision to cut jobs as “painful”, but added it was a necessary move to recover as much profit as possible.
Subscribe to Grocery Gazette for free
Sign up here to get the latest grocery and food news each morning
Naked Wines is also slimming down its board, with non-executive director Melanie Allen stepping down with immediate effect.
Allen’s departure is not the only senior leadership reshuffle at the company in recent months.
Former chief executive Nick Devlin stepped down in November when Naked Wines issued a severe profit warning, however he remains at the helm of its US business.
Gormley will continue to lead the business until a permanent replacement is appointed.
