Following NEXT and Tom Joule’s acquisition of Market Harborough-based Joules out of administration in December, the relaunch of the lifestyle group has been accelerated – but jobs may be at risk.
Moving to a new digital platform, the originally proposed launch date was March 2024, but “significant progress in reducing the lead times for the delivery of TOTAL PLATFORM (TP)” now means Joules can launch its TP site much earlier than expected, with a launch date now planned for October 2023.
The TOTAL PLATFORM focusses on providing website, warehousing, distribution, contact centre, online advertising and retail services, with a significantly wider scope of planned services for Joules, including NEXT product systems, finance, payments and accounting systems, and HR systems.
While the transition to the TOTAL PLATFORM is intended to deliver material cost savings to Joules, with the decision to deliver much broader services to the business, significantly greater savings are anticipated. However, as a result of these changes, a number of tasks performed by Joules personnel will be absorbed into NEXT teams or no longer be needed. How many jobs are affected is not clear.
NEXT says: “Where roles are no longer required, NEXT will be working with those affected to ensure that they are considered for any suitable vacancies at NEXT, whose Head Office is located close to Joules’ headquarters in Market Harborough. It is anticipated that those remaining with Joules (i.e. the Senior management, Product and Marketing teams) will continue to work from Joules’ existing offices.”
