Relief for Newry Peacocks staff as store remains open

The Newry Peacocks store is not one of the 20 that will cease trading immediately

The Newry Peacocks Store will remain open despite the announcement that over 250 jobs will be lost in Northern Ireland. Peacocks announced this week that they will close a staggering 19 stores throughout Northern Ireland, with at least 250 jobs expected to be lost in the process.

The clothing chain, which has been in administration since last month, was sold recently to Edinburgh Woolen Mill. The Peacocks business operates around 563 stores and 48 concessions across Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales. It employed approximately 9,600 staff in the UK, which has now been reduced to 9,351 following yesterday’s redundancies.

The news will come as a huge relief to staff in Merchants Quay store after it emerged that 20 of the stores nationwide will close with immediate effect. The stores closing are in Antrim, Bangor, Coleraine, Craigavon, Carrickfergus,  Ballyclare, Portadown, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Ballynahinch, Cookstown, Magherafelt, Lisburn, Ballymena,  Derry and Blooomfield in Bangor.

Chris Laverty, joint administrator and restructuring partner at KPMG, said, “Today’s deal ensures the continued trading of a well known name on the high street. While it is unfortunate that redundancies have been necessary, we are pleased that we have been able to preserve the majority of the business and jobs.”

Philip Day, chairman and chief executive of the Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group, who recently bought Peacocks, said, “We look forward to working with our new colleagues to rebuild the business in what is a very tough economic environment for High Street retailers in the UK.”

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Posted by Newry Times News on Feb 23 2012. Filed under Business, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry