Tesco has announced major changes to simplify operations, affecting 1,700 jobs, in a bid to improve efficiency and competitiveness.

As part of the changes, the role of people manager and compliance manager will be removed from large stores and fulfilment centres in the UK, along with the role of customer experience manager, present in 226 stores, giving line managers more direct accountability for customer service, in line with all other Tesco stores.

According to the retailer, the affected employees will be “supported to find alternative roles within the business wherever possible”.

In addition, 900 new roles with broader remits will be created as people partners, learning partners and colleague relations partners working across multiple sites throughout distribution, stores and fulfilment.

As part of this, a colleague administration role will also be created to support management teams in each large store and fulfilment centre.

Matt Davies, Tesco UK and ROI CEO, commented: “These changes remove complexity and will deliver a simpler, more helpful experience for colleagues and customers.

“We recognise these are difficult changes to make but they are necessary to ensure our business remains competitive and set up for the future. Our priority now is to support affected colleagues through these changes in any way we can.

“We hope to retain as many colleagues as possible in the new roles we have created and in the vacancies we currently have available.”

The removal of people managers is expected to impact employees in 757 large stores and seven fulfilment centres, while the removal of compliance managers will impact employees in 667 large stores and seven fulfilment centres.