UK fashion retailer M&Co has announced this week the completion of a financial restructuring exercise which means their Annan Store in Dumfries and Galloway has closed, affecting 6 local jobs, but the Castle Douglas Store will remain open. The company restructure will save over 2,200 jobs and secure the company’s future as a national High Street presence, with over 200 stores remaining open.
However, the company has expressed its “enormous regret” at being forced to close 47 stores as part of the process, including its Annan store.
Following the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, which required most UK retailers to close their doors for nearly four months, Mackays Stores Ltd took the necessary step of appointing Deloitte as administrators in April.
CEO Andy McGeoch said: “As everyone knows, retail has been one of the sectors hardest-hit by Covid-19, with long-term shop closures and social distancing having a hugely negative impact.
“Like many of the UK’s best-known High Street names, we’ve been facing up to a number of underlying business challenges in the current retail environment, which have been exacerbated by the impact of COVID 19. Being forced to close all our stores for several months meant a huge financial hit.
“We reopened most stores in June and have been exploring every possible option, but it was obvious that the business, as previously structured, would remain under severe pressure from the ongoing challenges of Covid-19. It quickly became clear that best way to save most jobs and most stores was to enter administration, with a new company acquiring the assets of the old business, and this process has now been finalised.
“The most difficult part of this process is undoubtedly seeing colleagues in stores and at our Glasgow and London operations leaving the business. It’s a terrible situation for them and I’m desperately sorry that we couldn’t come up with a viable plan which would have saved all the jobs.”
The administration process, which is being managed by Deloitte, will see the estate reduced from 265 to 218 stores and around 380 redundancies from a total workforce of 2,600.
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