Fears for shop staff as two firms enter admin
Shop workers in Livingston are facing an uncertain future after two stores went into administration.
Family-run business Watt Brothers shut its doors at The Centre, Livingston at the weekend when the 115-year-old company went bust.
Workers have told how they questioned management about the shop’s bare stock room but were assured everything was fine.
The administrators said they were left with no option but to make 299 of the company’s 306 employees redundant while some will stay on in the short term to sell-off of the company’s stock and property.
Blair Nimmo, joint administrator and UK head of restructuring at KPMG, said: “Despite the director’s tireless efforts to increase margins, cut costs and recapitalise the business, Watt Brothers continued to incur trading losses as a result of the wellpublicised challenges being experienced across the retail sector.
“Ultimately this has led to the unfortunate demise of a well-known and highly-regarded business.
“We are working closely with Skills Development Scotland, via their PACE team, and JobCentre Plus to support the staff who have been made redundant.
“We would encourage any party who has an interest in acquiring the business and its assets to contact us as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, the Bonmarché store in West Lothian is also at risk after the fashion chain entered administration although the Courier understands no redundancies are being made at this stage and the store – also at The Centre, Livingston – will remain open.
Chief executive Helen Connolly said: “It is with deep regret and sadness that we have appointed administrators.
“Over the last 18 months trading in our stores and market conditions on the high street have significantly worsened.
“The delay in Brexit has created negatives both in the global markets towards Britain and damaged consumer sentiment and retail footfall on the high street.
“These have compounded the challenges we were facing and without such a delay it is feasible to believe that our issues would have been more manageable. Instead, it has only intensified the pressures.”
Tony Wright, joint administrator and partner at FRP, added: There is every sign that we can continue trading while we market Bonmarché for sale and believe that there will be interest to take on the business.”