The Wilko discount store chain has announced the equivalent of 400 jobs is set to go as it cuts costs in a “fight for survival”.

The chain had already announced it plans to cut 95 jobs at its contact centre in Worksop after outsourcing to a company in South Africa. A further 150 assistant store managers are also set to go and there will be a cut in of team supervisors equivalent to a loss of 150 full- time workers.

Mark Jackson, chief executive of Wilko, which is based in Manton Wood Enterprise Park in Worksop, told The Guardian: “We’ve identified significant changes to the Wilko operating model to enable us to stabilise the business and then thrive again.

This includes some proposed changes to our management structure at both our stores and head office. We’re fully supporting affected individuals. We know change will be unsettling to our team members and the wider business, and we’re acting swiftly to put in place the new organisational structure to stabilise and grow.”

Wilko, which employs around 16,000 people, is consulting with the GMB Union on the job losses.

Nadine Houghton, GMB national officer, told The Guardian: “Wilko is going through significant changes at the moment and ultimately the business is in a fight for survival.

We are seeing continued and increasing job losses throughout the retail sector and this is something that warrants an urgent, strategic response from the Government.”

Earlier this year the discount store chain said it had agreed £40 million of credit, which it said would help prevent redundancies or changes for customers, and comes as it restructures its management team.

The business also sold its Manton Wood Enterprise Park site in November to DHL for £48 million, and is leasing it back.

Two months after the sale DHL sold the distribution centre to Canadian asset manager Brookfield for £88 million. Wilko said all of its customer enquires will be dealt with by a third party from February 2023, over email, telephone, live chat, web chat and social media.