N Brown closure plan puts close to 300 jobs at risk
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The group, which owns JD Williams and Simply Be, entered into a consultation with staff on Thursday, saying that weak footfall on the high street meant it had to close stores.
The consultation concerns 12 dual-brand Simply Be and Jacamo outlets, as well as eight High and Mighty stores.
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Hide AdThe company operates a combined Simply Be and Jacomo store at CastleCourt in Belfast which it confirmed was part of the consultation process.
It expects to incur a one-off cash cost of between £18 million and £22m if it closes all 20 stores.
The outlets affected will be shut ahead of their lease expiry date and bring in around 2% of N Brown’s revenues, generating £15m in the 2018 financial year.
“In line with our online strategy, and given continued weak high street footfall, we have today commenced a consultation process with colleagues over the future of our small store estate,” said CEO Angela Spindler.
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Hide Ad“This action has not been taken lightly and we will do all we can to support the colleagues affected during this process.”
For the 13 weeks to June 2, N Brown’s revenue from its retail brands fell 2.8%. JD Williams’ sales fell 2%, while Simply Be and Jacamo’s sales rose by 9.3% and 2% respectively.