CLOTHING chain Matalan has cut about 100 head office jobs and trimmed the workforce at 190 stores as part of a restructuring.

But only one job has gone at its Malvern store, based at Malvern Retail Park, Roman Way, a spokeswoman said.

Matalan first warned staff in June that it was considering job cuts as it looked to save £15m a year in the face of a UK spending slowdown.

Since then, about 300 jobs from a total headcount of 14,000 have been axed, including 100 posts at the company's head office in Lancashire.

The group's director of human resources, Anthony McDaniel, is among those to lose his job following a restructuring of his department.

The company said one job had gone at each of its stores, with the position affected mainly in administrative or office roles. It added that most of the workers had left through voluntary redundancy and relocation.

The company said: "This move is regrettable but prudent given the challenging retail environment."

In its last trading update, Matalan said like-for-like sales were 6.5 per cent lower in the nine weeks to Saturday, July 2, although this represented an improvement on the decline seen earlier in the year.

The job losses are the latest blow to the retail sector, as some of the worst trading conditions in two decades cause firms to shed staff.

A report earlier this year warned up to 150,000 jobs could be lost in the retail sector over the next five years.

And catalogue business Argos said last week that it was replacing 500 managerial jobs with "service co-ordinators", while another 1,000 employees will see their working hours changed to cope with busy evening and weekend periods.

The changes are part of a drive by the company to improve efficiency.

end