DIY giant announces branch is set to close
DIY store Homebase is planning to close the town’s branch, it has been announced.
The firm has confirmed the Macclesfield story on Lyme Green Retail Park is one of the 42 locations planned for closure in the coming months.
According to the firm 1,500 jobs could be axed with the company struggling to keep afloat underperforming stores which are making a loss.
Bosses at the company have said they will try to ‘redeploy team members within the business where possible’.
The chain is set to launch a ‘Company Voluntary Agreement’ (CVA), which is an insolvency procedure that is used to shut stores that aren’t performing.
Seventeen Homebase stores have already been shut this year with 303 people also losing their jobs at the company’s head office in Milton Keynes.
Homebase was bought by the company Wesfarmers in 2016 for £304 million, but was sold this year for just £1 to retail turnaround specialists Hilco.
The current store closure procedure has been in place since February, but if the CVA is approved stores are set to close this year and next year.
Damian McGloughlin, CEO of Homebase, said the decision is ‘essential’.
He said: “Launching a CVA has been a difficult decision and one that we have not taken lightly. Homebase has been one of the most recognisable retail brands for almost 40 years, but the reality is we need to continue to take decisive action to address the under performance of the business and deal with the burden of our cost base, as well as to protect thousands of jobs.
“The CVA is therefore an essential measure for the business to take and will enable us to refocus our operations and rebuild our offer for the years ahead.”
Dave Gill of shopworkers’ trade union Usdaw said: “Staff in Homebase stores were extremely worried for the future after the announcement of head office job losses; and mounting speculation about store closures is clearly very concerning.”
At it’s peak, Homebase had 250 stores across the country.