Debenhams store in Foyleside faces permanent closure after rescue bid fails
The company has six stores in the North of Ireland, including one at Derry’s Foyleside shopping centre.
It would be another blow to the Derry economy after the closure during the pandemic of the popular Easons shop at Foyleside.
It means all 12,000 employees are likely to lose their jobs when the chain’s 124 shops cease trading.
Debenhams fell into administration for the second time in April and hopes had rested on a rescue bid from JD Sports.
But that hope faded after the collapse of retail giant Arcadia, the biggest concession operator in Debenhams.
Tough trading during the coronavirus pandemic proved to be the final blow for both firms, which employ more than 25,000 people between them.
It’s understood staff were told this morning.
Hilco, the restructuring firm which specialises in winding up retailers, will start going into stores tomorrow to begin clearing stock.
The 242-year-old retailer had already cut about 6,500 jobs since May as it struggled to stay afloat.
The 12,000 jobs are set to go over the coming months unless the administrators do a deal for all or parts of the business as the process unfolds.
Former Debenhams chairman Sir Ian Cheshire said he felt “desperately sorry” for its employees.
He said that Debenhams had been “caught in a straitjacket” with too many High Street outlets on long leases.
“You’ve got to be so much faster and so much more online,” he said, adding that the chain would have been better off with about 70 stores.
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