Waterstones warns of job cuts if UK passes Brexit
Staff email predicts "significant retail downturn" in case of British exit from EU
- Bookseller is the latest in a long line of business leaders to provide a gloomy prediction for Brexit
- Company has faced difficult competition in recent times from online booksellers
Waterstones boss James Daunt has warned that the company could well have to cut a number of jobs if Britain votes to leave the European Union in next Friday's referendum.
Daunt told employees a victory for Brexit campaigners would potentially “reverse much of the hard-won gain of the last few years” at the bookseller. He made the warning in an email sent to thousands of its store staff, managers and head office staff.
Various business leaders have expressed their wariness of a British EU exit, with many foreseeing job cuts as part of an uncertain economic period for the area. JP Morgan chief executive Jamie Dinon predicted up to 4,000 jobs could depart the US owned bank, and just today British car and aeroplane manufacturer Rolls-Royce warned employees of potential losses of investment.
Various business leaders have expressed their wariness of a British EU exit
In his email Daunt writes: “Many companies are telling their employees of the likely impact of a Brexit vote in the referendum. For Waterstones, I believe it will be adverse. To borrow the assessment of Christine Lagarde, the impact will be pretty bad to very, very bad.”
In a saturated market which has seen a move towards electronic books and online sales, Daunt referred to the gains that the company has made in recent years.
“For Waterstones, the impact on sales will reverse much of the hard-won gain of the last few years. To survive, we will have to return to cost-cutting; return, that is, to the brutal reality of job losses and stagnant wages.
For Waterstones, the impact on sales will reverse much of the hard-won gain of the last few years.
“Most informed judgment is that Brexit will provoke a period of great economic uncertainty, and a significant retail downturn in consequence. Those who deny this are blithe in their reassurance.”
Daunt is the former owner of Daunt Books, as well as having worked as a banker. He became boss of Waterstones after it was sold by HMV to Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut in 2011.
“You may wonder why I offer no argument beyond this stark warning. The EU, after all, has much to recommend it as well as, in the opinion of many, considerable defects. My concern, however, is to be clear about the probable consequence of Brexit for Waterstones.”