Debenhams store closures 'another High St travesty', GMB

The GMB union has hit out at the ‘devastating’ Debenhams store closures announced this morning.

The retailer will pull the plug on 22 stores early next year, putting 1,200 jobs at risk.

Here is the full list:

• Altrincham

• Ashford

• Birmingham Fort

• Canterbury

• Chatham

• Eastbourne

• Folkestone

• Great Yarmouth

• Guildford

• Kirkcaldy

• Orpington

• Slough

• Southport

• Southsea

• Staines

• Stockton

• Walton

• Wandsworth

• Welwyn Garden City

• Wimbledon

• Witney

• Wolverhampton

Debenhams is planning to close a total of 50 of its worst-performing stores but has yet to confirm the locations of the remaining ones. Terry Duddy, Executive Chairman at Debenhams, said: “The issues facing the UK High Street are very well known. We have a clear strategy and a bright future but in order for the business to prosper, we need to restructure the group’s store portfolio and its balance sheet, which are not appropriate for today’s much-changed retail environment. Our priority is to save as many stores and as many jobs as we can, while making the business fit for the future.”

However, the GMB has labelled the move ‘another High Street travesty’. Gary Carter, GMB National Officer, commented: “This is devastating news for Debenhams employees who have battled hard to keep the company afloat. They will join the tens of thousands of retail workers made redundant in recent months.”

“It’s a travesty, yet this Government does nothing,” he added. “It’s another hammer blow for the High Street, another established name gone and more retail space left empty. The closures will have a real and negative impact on the livelihoods of the employees and on local communities. It’s about time this Government stopped bickering over Brexit and did something to stem retail job losses and reinvigorate Britain’s High Streets.”