Rent-to-own firm BrightHouse close 30 stores and cut 350 jobs
The retailer, which rents out household goods to low-earners, confirmed it will lose a tenth of its workforce and shops over the next two months
RENT-TO-OWN firm BrightHouse is set to shut 30 stores and axe 350 staff.
The retailer said it will lose a tenth of its workforce and shops over the next two months as part of a "regrettable" restructuring plan.
BrightHouse rents out household goods to low-earners and those with poor credit histories who are otherwise turned away from traditional lenders.
The firm is known to cash in on customers who are in financial hardship, charging rip-off rates of up to 99 per cent.
MPS have backed The Sun's Stop The Credit Rip-Off campaign, which calls on the financial regulator to cap the total amount repayable for rent-to-own goods such as tellies and washing machines.
We've heard from hundreds of customers who's debts have spiralled out of control after being allowed to take out more policies than they could afford, while some were hounded by shop staff when they couldn't keep up with repayments.
One customer told The Sun how she was chased for repayments for a washing machine while she was heavily pregnant.
As a result of our campaign, the Financial Conduct Authority has promised to cap the cost of domestic goods bought through rent-to-own shops from April.
The store closures come amid a high street crisis that has crippled the likes of Maplin, Toys R Us, House of Fraser and HMV.
BrightHouse said: "We have taken the very difficult decision to close 30 stores in the next two months.
"All employees affected by our proposals have been informed.
"We are working to redeploy as many people as possible into alternative roles, but redundancies will be inevitable.
"We will be speaking to all customers affected by the store closures and either transferring them to another local store or serving them online.
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"We’re also introducing PayPoint, allowing customers to pay BrightHouse in cash at 28,000 locations across the UK."
Last year, Poundland stores began renting shop floor space to BrightHouse - a move which has been slammed by campaigners.
Martyn James, of complaints-handling site Resolver, said: "Targeting people in shops that serve people on a tight budget and tempting them with overpriced credit is deeply troubling.
"High-cost credit is a tax on people who are struggling financially. It's unacceptable that people who need the money the most get charged the most for it."
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