BHS staff deserve better protection from the government

In what seems to be the inevitable decline of the UK-wide retailer BHS, one can only speculate if the business had been in another sector of the economy would there have been greater scrutiny of its business dealings.

By The Newsroom

Published 26th Apr 2016, 19:41 BST

Updated 26th Apr 2016, 20:44 BST

The 11,000 staff, 300 in Northern Ireland, not only are likely to lose their jobs but may well have difficulty securing their pension entitlements.

The steel industry, rightly, has received intense scrutiny by government and a support package to boost the sale of steel manufacturing firms and secure pensions is likely to be put in place.

Surely the 11,000 employees of BHS could have been better protected by government, as the company changed hands and the speculators walked away with bags of cash.

Don’t we owe it to all sectors of the economy to value the jobs and the incomes?

Robin Newton East Belfast DUP

BHS Northern Ireland