Virgin Media to quit high street after Covid shutdown

Virgin Media will disappear from the UK high street after the Covid-19 crisis speeded up its shift away from physical stores to online and phone sales, according to a report.

The company's network of 53 UK stores will stay shut once the coronavirus lockdown ends and it will offer 341 employees alternative jobs in customer service and sales, the Guardian reported.

About 300 of the alternative jobs will be in customer care with most workers based at home after the success of call centre staff working remotely during the lockdown.

“We are focused on delivering the service customers want, in the ways they want it and at a time and place that suits them,” said Rob Orr, a sales director at Virgin Media, told the Guardian.

Virgin Media is accelerating its existing plan to move away from high street sales as more enquiries come in online and over the phone. The company, a subsidiary of Liberty Global that pays a brand licence fee to Richard Branson, has reduced its number of stores from 140 in 2016.

Analysts expect the Covid-19 crisis to reshape the way people and businesses function after millions of workers spent months doing their jobs from home. Virgin Media's decision appears to be part of that trend.

“By creating new jobs in our most popular care and sales channels, we will be better able to provide our customers with the top service and support they rightly expect while retaining our talented workforce,” Virgin's Orr said.