The job cuts will affect 540 employees at store level, and 42 head office positions.

On 30 September, hundreds of employees across the country protested against the proposed redundancy plan.

Gildas Delon, human resources director of Marionnaud France, explained to news agency AFP, that talks with unions and other partners, together with the acceptance of its operational plan, had led to the decision to announce fewer job cuts.

In an official statement, the company added that there would be a one-month, voluntary redundancy period, in an effort to minimise the number of forced redundancies.

Over the past three years, Marionnaud has experienced annual losses of around €25m, in spite of a slight improvement in sales in 2008.