Up to 2,000 people could lose their jobs at Shop Direct after the online retailer said that it would close three warehouses in Greater Manchester.
MPs and unions reacted angrily after the group, which runs the Littlewoods and Very brands, said that the sites in Shaw and Chadderton, near Oldham, and Little Hulton, near Bolton, would be replaced by a new partly-automated warehouse in Leicestershire, close to the M1 and East Midlands airport.
Shop Direct employs 1,177 permanent staff and 815 agency workers in the northwest, but the new East Midlands warehouse is expected to generate only 500 permanent roles and up to 300 agency positions.
