Another 24,000 Retail Jobs At Risk As UK Fashion Group Faces Collapse

EWM Group, owned by retail entrepreneur Philip Day, stated in a press release that it plans to nominate directors to restructure the corporate, which additionally owns the Peacocks and Jaeger clothes manufacturers. It’s contemplating promoting elements of the group, which employs 24,000 individuals.

“Now we have utilized to court docket at the moment for a brief respiratory area to evaluate our choices earlier than transferring to nominate directors,” stated CEO Steve Simpson. “There’ll inevitably be important cuts and closures as we work our method by way of this,” he added.

British firms dealing with insolvency can appoint directors to offer safety in opposition to collectors. Nevertheless it means handing over management to the directors, and the method can result in the enterprise being closed down.

EWM is the most recent UK retailer to embark on a significant restructuring, because the pandemic crushes clothes gross sales and accelerates a shift to e-commerce that was already hurting bodily shops. Marks & Spencer (MAKSY), TM Lewin, Harrods, Topshop proprietor Arcadia and Walgreens (WBA)-owned pharmacy chain Boots have introduced as much as 12,800 layoffs between them. Even Selfridges has been pressured to retrench, asserting 450 job cuts in July.

These cuts have been introduced earlier than native lockdowns and a second wave of coronavirus hit Britain’s malls and foremost streets, highlighting the unsure prospects that retail staff face.

Information revealed Friday confirmed that Britain’s financial restoration was stalling even earlier than the contemporary surge in infections. UK GDP grew by 2.1% in August, lower than half the speed economists have been anticipating. Finance Minister Rishi Sunak unveiled additional support for firms affected by the brand new coronavirus restrictions on Friday.

Edinburgh Woollen Mill is in a very robust place as a result of lots of its shops are within the north of Britain, the place restrictions have been tightened greater than elsewhere. Its clients additionally are typically older, in accordance with Patrick O’Brien, head of UK retail analysis at GlobalData.

“Any retailer targeted on getting older consumers into bodily shops goes to wrestle to outlive,” O’Brien said on Twitter on Friday.

EWM Group stated additionally it is having to cope with “false rumors” regarding its enterprise practices, which it stated have impacted its credit score insurance coverage agreements and harm its funds. The corporate has been accused by suppliers in Bangladesh of not paying for items, in accordance with UK media stories. It denies the claims.

“The discount in credit score insurance coverage, in opposition to the backdrop of the preliminary lockdown, present native lockdowns, and the second wave of Covid-19 decreasing footfall have made regular buying and selling unimaginable,” Simpson stated.

Source link