Sainsbury's has announced a restructuring exercise at its head office in Holborn, which could result in redundancies despite pledging to create jobs in 2009.

The retailer intends to make changes to support teams to prepare them for "future growth".

A spokeswoman from Sainsbury's said: "We announced today our intention to consult on changes to the organisation of our store support structure. This is being done to streamline our operation, reduce duplication and speed up and simplify the decision-making process."

"This year we are a net creator of jobs, particularly in stores where we are growing sales, and because we are increasing the number of stores: we expect to open 16 stores and 50 convenience outlets over the next 12 months. The proposed changes are part of normal productivity changes undertaken over time."

The firm has already made plans to move out of the Holborn office to smaller premises in Kings Cross.

The spokeswoman from Sainsbury's told HR magazine it was unlikely any redundancies would be made from the HR department or from HR roles in stores because the department had already been restructured in 2008.