Labour: Devastating news for UK workers
Rebecca Long-Bailey, Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary, is urging the government to help
Maplin and
Toys R Us’s employees:
“It’s devastating that over 5,500 High Street jobs risk being lost. This latest shock in the retail sector continues a worrying trend for our shopping streets and centres.
“The Government must urgently meet with both the unions and the companies to ensure that these jobs are safeguarded.
“Workers are suffering stress and anxiety not knowing what the future holds for them. In the event of job losses, the Government must act quickly to ensure all workers receive swift redundancy payments and are properly supported.
“The Government must also urgently address problems across the retail sector.”
Maplin falls into administration
BREAKING: Electrical goods chain Maplin has also fallen into administration, in an increasingly dark morning for UK retail.This puts around 2,500 jobs at risk.
Maplin, which has over 200 stores in the UK, was forced into administration after failing to find new funding -- less than an hour after Toys R US suffered the same fate.
Graham Harris, CEO of Maplin, has blamed the slump in the pound since the EU referendum, saying:
“I can confirm this morning that it has not been possible to secure a solvent sale of the business and as a result we now have no alternative but to enter into an administration process. During this process Maplin will continue to trade and remains open for business.
The business has worked hard over recent months to mitigate a combination of impacts from sterling devaluation post Brexit, a weak consumer environment and the withdrawal of credit insurance. This necessitated an intensive search for new capital that in current market conditions has proved impossible to raise. These macro factors have been the principal challenge not the Maplin brand or its market differentiation.
We believe passionately that Maplin has a place on the high street, and that our trust, credibility and expertise meets a customer need that is not supported elsewhere.
We will now work tirelessly alongside Zelf Hussain, Toby Underwood and Ian Green, from PWC, who have been appointed as the as Joint Administrators of Maplin Electronics Limited, to achieve the best possible outcome for all of our colleagues and stakeholders.”