Mothercare to shut 60 stores by June next year
The latest store closures mean a total of 60 Mothercare stores will shut by June 2019, putting 900 jobs at risk overall
MOTHERCARE has announced it will shut 60 stores, leading to the loss of hundreds of jobs.
The struggling mother and baby products retailer had already announced it would shut around 50 shops in May, but it confirmed 10 more are up for the chop in an update today.
The latest store closures mean a total of 60 Mothercare stores will shut by June next year, putting 900 jobs at risk overall.
Mothercare said it was putting its Childrens World division into administration, but that 13 of these 22 stores would be saved.
The changes come after it cleared a so-called Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA), an insolvency procedure that required the approval of the retailer's landlords.
The struggling retailer said it's now planning to raise £32.5million of emergency funding from investors.
It has identified savings of £19 million through the process, and hopes to realise £10 million in cash.
Clive Whiley, Mothercare's interim executive chairman, said: "The last three months of hard work and progress have put in place the foundations to get Mothercare back to where it should be as a fit-for-purpose business with a stronger and more efficient structure both for our UK business and our international franchisees."
It is the latest High Street favourite forced to close stores in recent months with Poundworld facing administration and House of Fraser axing more than half of its stores, resulting in up to 6,000 job losses.
It follows similar moves taken by New Look and Carpetright, which are expected to close 60 and 92 stores respectively, putting hundreds of jobs at risk.
In March, fashion retailer Next also revealed it will axe 60 of its shops putting 980 jobs at risk.
SHUTDOWN Which high street stores have closed in 2018? Shop closures in full from Mothercare and Maplin to Toys R Us, Carpetright and Poundworld
Mothercare staff recently claimed to the Sun Online that they work in a pressurised environment with long hours and a work load so high it feels like they are "selling their soul" to the firm.
The company is one of the country's biggest maternity and children's retailers with about 140 stores in the UK and more than 5,000 employees worldwide.
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