R3: Half of jobs survive after shops collapse
MORE than half of all jobs at risk when high street retailers fall into administration are saved, new figures from the insolvency trade body R3 show.
Its analysis of major retail insolvencies in the last financial year reveals that 53 per cent of jobs are saved during the insolvency process while 48 per cent of stores survive.
Clinton Cards shed 49 per cent of its stores and cut 43 per cent of its staff when it went into administration, while Peacocks closed 37 per cent of stores and made 42 per cent of staff redundant.
“These figures show that the insolvency process, whilst never good news, can result in significant parts of the business surviving,” said Lee Manning, R3 president and a partner at Deloitte. But he called for the retail sector to change its methods, such as maintaining unprofitable stores.
“Portfolios are simply too large at present…according to figures from Deloitte, we could be seeing significant downsizing of between 30 to 40 per cent over the next 3-5 years.”