Debenhams may shut 90 stores and slash 10,000 jobs in rescue plan
Debenhams could cut 10,000 jobs as part of a desperate attempt to keep the company afloat amid plunging profits and a dramatic boardroom coup.
The struggling department store has earmarked as many as 90 high street stores for closure, the Daily Telegraph reported yesterday.
Debenhams had already announced plans to close 50 of its 165 stores in the UK and Ireland. But the firm has reportedly selected another 30 to 40 stores that could be closed in a bid to turn around the company’s fortunes.
In October the chain reported losses of £491.5m, the largest in its history, and has seen its share price plunge almost 90 per cent in the last year.
Reports of the radical rescue plan come just days after the company was rocked by a shock boardroom coup.
Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley, who holds a 30 per cent stake in Debenhams, blocked the re-appointment of chairman Sir Ian Cheshire and chief executive Sergio Bucher.
Ashley teamed up with shareholder Landmark Capital for the dramatic coup, which knocked the firm’s share price down to record lows.
Cheshire has stepped down from his role as chairman and has been replaced by the firm’s senior independent director, Teddy Duddy. Bucher will continue as chief executive, despite having been ousted from the board.
Yesterday City PM revealed Debenhams is one of 50 high street retailers involved in a huge lobbying effort to secure business rates relief from the government.
The campaign, which is set to go public in the coming months, is focused on an upcoming rise in business rates for larger companies due to come into effect on 1 April.