Marks & Spencer, with stores in Norfolk, said it plans to cut jobs including in regional management as well as in store.

The retail giant also plans to reduce the number of roles at its central support centre.

Norwich and King’s Lynn in Norfolk and Lowestoft in Suffolk have stand-alone stores as well as food concessions and Simply Food outlets which also operate in Great Yarmouth. Last month the retailer announced 950 head office roles would go.

MORE: Owner of local artisan chocolate shop opening in Norwich’s Royal Arcade

During lockdown, the company said it learnt to work more flexibly, using the same staff to man both the food aisles and the clothing sections. New Microsoft technology will also allow it to reduce layers of management, M&S said.

“We expect a significant proportion will be through voluntary departures and early retirement. In line with our longstanding value of treating our people well, we will now begin an extensive programme of communication with colleagues,” M&S said.

It also expects to create “a number” of new jobs as M&S invests in its online capacity.

Chief executive Steve Rowe said: “In May we outlined our plans to learn from the crisis, accelerate our transformation and deliver a stronger, more agile business in a world in which some customer habits were changed forever.

“Three months on and our Never the Same Again programme is progressing; albeit the outlook is uncertain and we remain cautious.

“As part of our Never The Same Again programme to embed the positive changes in ways of working through the crisis, we are today announcing proposals to further streamline store operations and management structures.

“These proposals are an important step in becoming a leaner, faster business set up to serve changing customer needs and we are committed to supporting colleagues through this time.”