DHL Supply Chain says it will make "every effort" to redeploy as many of its workers as possible after it was revealed yesterday that up to 2,200 jobs could be axed at sites including Ellesmere Port.

In a statement, the company confirmed that due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic it had taken the decision to "restructure our linefeed and freight operations supporting the Jaguar Land Rover contract".

Unite announced yesterday that 2,200 staff – two in five of the entire workforce employed by DHL on the Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) logistics contract – could lose their jobs in what it describes as a "massive, bitter blow".

According to the union, the cuts will fall on all of JLR's major factories in the North West and the West Midlands, which includes Halewood and the DHL Automotive site off North Road, Ellesmere Port.

A consultation with the workforce and their representatives is now under way.

A spokesperson for DHL Supply Chain said: "In light of highly challenging trading conditions in the global automotive sector and the unprecedented impact of the coronavirus pandemic, we have made the difficult decision to restructure our linefeed and freight operations supporting the Jaguar Land Rover contract.

"This is in line with future volume forecasts and forms part of the optimisation and efficiency initiatives that have been driven by both organisations in recent months.

"We are now in consultation with our employees and their representatives and will make every effort to redeploy as many colleagues as possible to our other operations nationwide.

"We would like to thank our colleagues for their understanding at this extremely difficult time and stress that this proposal is based solely on the commercial challenges affecting the global automotive sector, and in no way reflects on the service levels delivered on the contract in recent years."