British technology and ‍online grocery group Ocado ‍plans to cut up to 1,000 jobs, ​or roughly 5% of its workforce, as part of a renewed cost-cutting ⁠drive following a difficult year for its automated warehouse business, the Sunday ⁠Times reported.

An ‌announcement could be made as soon as this month, with most redundancies expected at Ocado's UK head ⁠office among technology teams and back-office roles including legal, finance and human resources, the report said, citing an unnamed source.

Asked to comment on the report by Reuters, an ⁠Ocado Group spokesperson said the ​company regularly reviews its operations.

"If and when decisions are made that affect our ‍people, we are committed to communicating with them directly and ensuring they are ​supported throughout," the spokesperson said in a statement, without giving further details.

Ocado's business model has suffered a number of recent setbacks, including a decision by its Canadian supermarket partner Sobeys to close its robotic warehouse in Calgary.

Last year, U.S. grocer Kroger , Ocado's biggest partner, said it was closing three automated warehouses.

The company reaffirmed last July that its core priority was to turn cash-flow ⁠positive during its 2025/26 year - which starts ‌in December - by reducing costs, and to be full-year cash positive in the following year.

It is due to ‌report annual ⁠results on February 26. (Reporting by Abu Sultan and Channdi Shah in ⁠Bengaluru; Editing by Joe Bavier and Helen Popper)