A NORTH-EAST call centre will close on April 30 with the loss of 900 jobs, it was confirmed today.
Shop Direct announced in January that it planned to close centres in Sunderland, Burnley and Newtown in Wales, with a total of 1,500 workers losing their jobs.
The 900 workers at the Sunderland call centre had hoped for a reprieve, after the company announced it is to delay closing its Welsh site.
However a company spokeswoman confirmed today that the site, in Hendon, will close on April 30.
GMB regional official Mickey Hopper said: "People will be paid three months in lieu of notice.
"They have now started one-to-one consultations. We have managed to secure redundancy terms and increased it in some cases.
"We are hoping to get everything sorted by the end of April then everyone will leave and the notice will be paid up."
Shop Direct owns brands including Littlewoods, Additions Direct, Very, Empire Stores and Marshall Ward, and has blamed the job cuts on a boom in the number of people choosing to shop online rather than phoning its call centres.
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