Dixons Carphone will close all 531 Carphone Warehouse stores, resulting in around 2,900 job losses.

The closures will be effective from 3 April, as Dixons Carphone focuses on selling mobile phones within its 305 larger Currys PC World stores and online.

The group’s 70 Carphone Warehouse stores in Ireland will remain open and its international operations are unaffected.

A statement explained that about 1,800 affected staff are set to take new roles elsewhere in the business.

Chief executive Alex Baldock explained: “We’re working hard to look after those colleagues we can’t find new roles for, financially and otherwise.

“We’ll pay enhanced redundancy, any bonuses, honour their share awards, and help them find new jobs through an outplacement programme.”

The company noted that the changes are not linked to the Coronavirus outbreak, although the impact was being prepared for in terms of supply chain.

However, its 29 travel stores have been affected by the outbreak as passenger numbers dropped, and it is expecting profits from the division to be knocked by around £5 million.

It is also braced for a “significant reduction” in sales due to switching over to online channels though, with a £90 million loss for the mobile phone division expected this year, with store closures seen as a way to bring it back to profitability.

The statement concluded: “We are ready to switch more fulfilment to our online and direct channels and we will manage our costs and cash closely, including a tight control of capital expenditure if necessary.”

Commenting on the news, Rick Smith, managing director of Forbes Burton, said: "Dixons Carphone has been undergoing restructuring since December 2018 and this is another step in their restructuring plan - coupled with more competition from online stores and people taking longer to upgrade means that unfortunately, mass store closures and job losses were inevitable.

"This decision would have been in the pipeline for the future, but the Coronavirus pandemic has probably bought it forward by a few months - it's likely that they decided to cut their losses early before they got worse."

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