House of Fraser jobs under threat

EMBATTLED department store House of Fraser has appointed accountants to advise on a restructuring which could involve closures and job cuts.

Owned by Chinese conglomerate Sanpower, it has drafted in KPMG to look at options, one of which could be the insolvency procedure known as a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA).

Several retailers have pursued CVAs to save on costs this year. It would involve House of Fraser seeking agreement from landlords to cut rents and possibly shut some of its 59 stores.

The chain has 6,000 employees and 11,500 concession staff. It has not yet decided what form of restructuring it will opt for, and is due to detail its turnaround plan. Its troubles came to the fore in January after a drop in sales over Christmas.

Sanpower chairman Yuan Yafei has voiced his commitment to House of Fraser and has pumped in millions of pounds to keep it on an even keel.

But House of Fraser’s woes come at a torrid time for the retail sector which has lost thousands of jobs already this year.