Pure Beauty

More woes for Debenhams as 2,500 redundancies announced

By Becky Bargh | Published: 11-Aug-2020

The job cuts are on top of the 4,000 Debenhams made when it entered ‘light touch’ administration in April

As the retail sector continues to grapple with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, struggling UK retailer Debenhams has said it will cut its headcount by a further 2,500.

The redundancies are in addition to the 4,000 job losses Debenhams announced in April this year when it entered ‘light touch’ administration.

“We have successfully reopened 124 stores port-lockdown, and these are currently trading ahead of management expectations,” a Debenhams spokesperson told Cosmetics Business.

“At the same time, the trading environment is clearly a long way from returning to normal and we have to ensure our store costs are aligned with realistic expectations.

“Those colleagues affected by redundancy have been informed and we are very grateful to them for their service and commitment to Debenhams.

“Such difficult decisions are being taken by many retailers right now and we will continue to take all necessary steps to give Debenhams every chance of a viable future.”

In just a few weeks, Boots, Harvey Nichols, John Lewis, Harrods and Selfridges all made redundancies across their businesses.

John Lewis also laid out plans to cut its UK headquarters and shutter eight stores.

After entering administration, to protect the business from liquidation, the cosmetics, fashion and homeware retailer announced last month that it would go up for sale once again.

However, the company has earmarked multiple stores for closure this year after its sales nosedived due to the pandemic.

Read more details on Debenhams’ store closures via the links below.

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