finance

380 jobs to go at M&Co



Scottish fashion retailer M&Co has secured the future of over 2,000 jobs following a financial restructuring.

The Glasgow-based business has been sold in a pre-pack administration deal, which will see the assets in the company sold back to the original founding family, the McGeouch’s.

Whilst the move will secure the future of over 200 of stores and 2,600 staff roles, just under one in five locations will close under the process, with 380 redundancies to be made.

The process comes following a difficult period for the high street in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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.

“It’s not a decision we took lightly, after more than 50 years of trading, but it gives us a sustainable basis from which to rebuild, with the majority of our staff keeping their jobs and 218 stores in High Streets across the country remaining open.

“The most difficult part of this process is undoubtedly seeing around 380 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.”



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