Jobs at risk as House of Fraser stores to close

HOUSE of Fraser staff will find out next month whether their jobs are on the line after they were warned stores would close.

The majority ownership of the struggling department store chain has been purchased by C.banner – the retailer behind Hamleys. The takeover will see a store closure programme with the sale of the 51% stake conditional on House of Fraser shutting stores.

A spokesperson from House of Fraser said they could not confirm which stores will be affected by the closure programme but more details will be available once the chain’s restructuring plan, known as a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), is published in June.

House of Fraser has two stores in Wales – Howells in Cardiff city centre and another in Cwmbran. In January, HoF suffered a drop in sales over Christmas and talks took place with landlords about reducing the size of its property portfolio. KPMG has been drafted it to advise House of Fraser on its restructuring proposal, with the terms of the plan likely to be finalised at the beginning of June.

House of Fraser is a subsidiary of Sanpower, a Chinese conglomerate chaired by Yuan Yafei. Mr Yuan has voiced his commitment to HoF, which has 6,000 employees and 11,500 concession staff, and has been pumping millions of pounds into the retailer to keep it on an even keel.

Several household names have pursued CVAs so far this year in a bid to save costs, including New Look, Carpetright and burger chain Byron.