Job losses in Kidderminster as Jessops announces closure (From Kidderminster Shuttle)

Job losses in Kidderminster as Jessops announces closure

6:20pm Friday 11th January 2013 in News By William Tomaney

FOUR jobs will be lost in Kidderminster after camera retailer Jessops announced it would shut all of its stores.

Administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers said all 187 Jessops stores across the UK, including the one in Vicar Street, Kidderminster, would close.

The closures will start at close of business today but it is unknown on which day the Kidderminster store will shut.

PwC was called in on Wednesday to try and salvage the business but had already admitted store closures would be inevitable.

Rob Hunt, joint administrator and partner at PwC, said: “Since my appointment, we have reviewed the position of the business and held extensive discussions with suppliers around their support for ongoing trade.

“It is apparent we cannot continue to trade and as a result we have had to make the difficult to decision to begin the closure of all stores.

“Regrettably, this will result in about 1,370 job losses across the stores with further job losses likely, in due course, at the head office in Leicester.

“The stock will be collected over the coming days and returned to a central warehouse.

“As a consequence of the closure, Jessops is no longer able to accept returned product from customers.

“This is an extremely sad day for Jessops and its employees.”

The retailer had seen a “significant decline” in 2012 and the run-up to Christmas.

The news comes just a month after 15 jobs were lost in Kidderminster when electronic retailer Comet closed.