JOHN Lewis' managing director has confirmed up to 20 workers at the Cressex department store are “likely to face redundancy”.

Store MD Deborah Strazza told the Bucks Free Press that as part of the company's nationwide restructuring scheme, between 10 and 20 “behind the scenes jobs are likely to go".

She said any job cuts would not come into affect until the third quarter of 2011 and she “hopes any affected partners can be redeployed elsewhere within the company".

The news follows on from the company's announcement in October that it plans to close the John Lewis warehouse in Turnpike Way, putting 59 jobs on the line (see link).

She said: “The company is going through a business consultation at the moment, as part of of The Branch of the Future programme which started last year - part of our Fit for the Future strategy aiming to equip John Lewis for long-term growth and improved service.

“The company is looking to streamline branch operations, centralise some existing activities and ensure that our branches can focus on giving great customer service.

“It is inevitable that some roles will change during this process, however we are working with affected partners from an early stage and expect that there will be opportunities for them to be retrained or redeployed.

“Locally, I don't know the overall reduction in numbers that we will see in Wycombe, but I think is likely to be between 10 and 20.

“The implementation of any changes to the High Wycombe operation will be Q3 2011, so I am very hopefully we will be able to offer other roles to all the partners affected".

But a John Lewis branch worker said “morale has been dented” by the announcement and questioned why cuts were necessary because the company does not answer to shareholders.