Vol 26 l Issue 18
INSIDE THIS WEEK:
www.champnews.com
L AT T E • L A U R I E
1 May 2019
25 YEARS
POMODORO
•
JUST WHITE
Tel: 01704 569697 5 WELD PARADE, BIRKDALE VILLAGE, PR8 2DT
New council chief’s vision for borough
R A B E • P I C A D I L LY
SOUTHPORT
CELEBRATING
Why I’ll be voting ‘no’ in BID ballot
DEBENHAMS STORE IN TOWN TO CLOSE Lord Street site will shut in months after struggling retailer lists 22 doomed shops Report by Danielle Thompson
Debenhams in Lord Street will close next year, it has been confirmed
DEBENHAMS Southport store is to close, company bosses have revealed. The Lord Street site appeared on a country-wide list of 22 of the chain’s struggling shops which have been targeted for closure. The news is a crushing blow to the town although the department store will remain open for the rest of this year before closing some time in 2020, with no date yet confirmed. In the meantime the retailer insisted the doomed stores would continue to trade ‘as normal’. There had been fears for the Southport store when the company’s financial situation deteriorated last year and it announced up to 50 stores would be closed. Last month Debenhams agreed a deal with its lenders, who provided £200m of fresh funding and took control of the ailing retailer.
That has now resulted in the first wave of stores which will shut as part of a plan by its new owners to revive the chain. Devastated staff at Lord Street Debenhams told the Champion they were told the grim news just half an hour before it was publicly announced last Friday. One member of staff said that while she was ‘distraught’ by the news, she planned to stay on as staff had been given plenty of warning about the closure plan. She said she had worked at the store for around 14 years and had hoped to work there until she retired. She was unsure if Debenhams would be offering staff positions at its other stores. Sefton Council said the announcement is ‘very disappointing’ and a ‘sad blow for Southport and the wider borough’. A council spokesperson said “While this is very much a national issue, it is not reflective in the confidence in the town centre economy currently being shown by a number of investors.
THE UK’S LARGEST LETTERBOX CIRCULATION BY AN INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER! 164,579
Continued inside
CHAMPION SERIES
JAN-DEC 2018 100% FREE