50 of Debenhams worst performing stores are planned to be closed Debenhams chief executive, Sergio Bucher, announced last week that he was set to resign with a pay-off estimated at around £700,000.
Chairman Terry Duddy has taken over in the interim as executive chairman while a search for a new chief executive is conducted.
Administrators were appointed to the firm who immediately sold the PLC part of Debenhams to a newly-incorporated company controlled by secured lenders in a pre-pack administration deal in return for reducing the retailer’s £600 million debt.
A consortium of hedge funds and banks now manage the company and they have announced closure of 50 of its worst-performing stores, resulting in a potential job loss of around 1200.
“The issues facing the UK high street are very well known,” Duddy said.
“Debenhams has a clear strategy and a bright future but in order for the business to prosper, we need to restructure the group’s store portfolio and its balance sheet, which are not appropriate for today’s much-changed retail environment. Our priority is to save as many stores and as many jobs as we can, while making the business fit for the future.”
A full list of those due to close is as follows:
- Altrincham
- Ashford
- Birmingham Fort
- Canterbury
- Chatham
- Eastbourne
- Folkestone
- Great Yarmouth
- Guildford
- Kirkcaldy
- Orpington
- Slough
- Southport
- Southsea
- Staines
- Stockton
- Walton
- Wandsworth
- Welwyn Garden City
- Wimbledon
- Witney
- Wolverhampton
