Specsavers has placed hundreds of jobs at risk of redundancy due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The optician made the announcement today due to a "dramatic downturn in business" caused by the crisis.
Specsavers have confirmed that staff employed in 900 UK stores are not affected by the announcement, but hundreds of support office roles are now at risk across the country, reports Gloucestershire Live.
In an email to staff, John Perkins, Specsavers chief executive, said: "We are clearly entering a sustained period of recession.
"The global economic position will remain fragile moving forward, impacting on our customers’ willingness to spend as well as our ability, as a business, to invest across many areas of our business."
Mr Perkins continued that the "un-Specsavers like" move was due to "unprecedented circumstances".
He added: “I realise that this news will come as a shock to many of you. You may think that it is a very ‘un-Specsavers like’; and frankly, it is.
"The decision has not been taken lightly and we have considered every option available to us.
"However, making such a significant change is a vital step to ensure that we are able to respond to these unprecedented circumstances, the impact of which will be felt for many years to come, and to support our partners in the priority areas of our rebuild plan."
The chief executive went on to say he was "heartbroken" by the decision, describing it as the hardest day of his business life.
“This is not the time, I am sure, for my personal perspective – but I need to tell you that I am completely heartbroken that it has come to this,” said Mr Perkins.
“Without doubt, this is the most difficult day of my business life to have to announce this.
“Every colleague who may be impacted by the proposed changes, whether they are relatively new in joining us or have been part of the Specsavers’ family for many years, will be an incredibly sad loss to our business – and me, personally.”
In a media statement issued by Specsavers, Mr Perkins said: "We have done everything we possibly could to avoid making people redundant, including implementing salary cuts, the introduction of part-time working arrangements and utilising the government’s furlough scheme. My heart goes out to each and every one of our people who could lose their jobs.
"Like many other companies, we have, unfortunately, suffered a dramatic downturn in business because of the pandemic and, coupled with a challenging outlook for the economy, we sadly have had no option but to stop many of our major programmes, halt significant capital investment initiatives and carry out an exercise to streamline our organisational structure.
"Moving forward, our single-minded focus is on rebuilding the business to protect the interests of our joint venture partners and their store teams – giving them the opportunity to grow and thrive as they continue to best-serve our customers and local communities across the country."
