NO jobs are at risk at Sainsbury’s stores in Colchester despite a move to axe hundreds of roles across the country.

The retailer announced on Thursday it is looking to cut about 1,500 roles in contact centres, in-store bakeries, and local fulfilment centres to cut costs by about £1billion a year.

When contacted by the Gazette, Sainsbury’s confirmed its four stores in Colchester and its new fulfilment centre at the former B&Q store in Lightship Way are not included in the move.

Chief executive Simon Roberts said the supermarket giant is making “difficult but necessary decisions”.

Sainsbury’s will find alternative roles for colleagues affected by cuts at its other sites across the UK “where possible”.

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How the job cuts will affect Sainsbury's staff

Sainsbury's said a “very small proportion” of staff would be impacted by the cuts and could be helped to find new roles where possible.

While other staff will simply be relocated.

At its contact centre in Widnes, Cheshire, a “vast majority” of its staff will see their employment move to a different company which Sainsbury’s already works with.

All of Sainsbury’s Careline services will now be run by this external company, Sainsbury’s said.

While it added the company also plans to move more of its shops “to a more efficient way of freshly baking products”.

It said the money it saves will be reinvested into the business to give customers “great value, quality and service.”