Sainsbury’s will put “thousands” of jobs at risk as part of plans to shake up its management.

The supermarket has launched a consultation with staff to reduce its number of senior posts.

The company did not confirm how many jobs would be affected – or the proportion in Kent – but said it would run into the “thousands”.

The retailer has more than 25 stores in the county.

Simon Roberts, retail and operations director of Sainsbury’s, said: “We’re proposing a store management structure that will deliver best in class leadership and, in many cases, will offer an improved reward package for new management roles.

“The proposals will introduce a more efficient and effective structure, designed to meet the challenges of today’s retail environment.

“They will deliver cost savings to be invested in our customer offer and in our colleagues as they continue to provide the very best service for our customers.

“I appreciate this will be a difficult time for those affected and we will fully support our people through these changes...” - Simon Roberts, Sainsbury's

“Our intention is not to reduce overall headcount as a result of these proposals.

“I appreciate this will be a difficult time for those affected and we will fully support our people through these changes.”

Earlier this week, Tesco announced it would cut 800 management jobs.

Both are trying to adapt their business model after the arrival of discount supermarkets Aldi and Lidl, which are growing their market share.

Unite, which represents more than 12,000 Sainsbury’s staff, called for the shake-up to involve no compulsory redundancies.

“We appreciate that Sainsbury’s has a good record of redeployment of staff in these situations and we will be exploring every avenue to ensure the continuing employment for our members,” said acting national food and drink officer Bev Clarkson.

“During the consultation period, we will be having meetings with management, including asking the company if it has done an equalities’ impact audit of those affected by today’s announcement.”