Closure-hit Index to detail 3,200 job cuts
Staff at axed British catalogue business Index will today discover if their jobs are likely to be among 3,200 to be cut by the chain’s owner Littlewoods.
The company, which plans to close 126 Index outlets and sell the 33 remaining stores to rival Argos, is expected to hold a series of meetings following news yesterday that it planned to pull the plug on the 20-year-old business.
It is likely to provide details of which stores are to be sold to Argos owner GUS in a £44m (€64.5m) deal that saves 800 out of Index’s 4,000-strong workforce.
The closure list features 33 stand-alone Index stores and a further 93 Index sites which trade within existing Littlewoods outlets.
Littlewoods – owned by the Barclay brothers – said it had run out of patience with the chain, which it pointed out had racked up losses in almost every year of its 20-year history, amounting to more than £100m (€146.6m) in total.
The company said it wanted to work with staff and unions in order to minimise the impact of the closure.
Shopworkers’ union Usdaw said yesterday the news had come out of the blue and that workers would be “devastated” by the job losses. It called for a meeting with the Liverpool-based company in order to review the business case.
Littlewoods has already said that at least 350 jobs at a distribution centre in Moxley in the West Midlands and 170 posts at the Liverpool head office were likely to be affected.
The news is the latest blow in the retail sector, following the demise of the department store chain Allders and the 65-outlet Gadget Shop chain.
Index was acquired by David and Frederick Barclay in 2002 as part of a £750m (€1.1bn) deal to buy the Littlewoods Group from the Moores family.
The closure of the in-store Index sites will increase speculation that the Barclay brothers are also close to agreeing the sale of the 119-strong Littlewoods stores chain.
Primark, the discount clothing retailer owned by Associated British Foods, is thought to be favourite to land the shops.
Since picking up Littlewoods, the Barclay brothers have concentrated on its home shopping catalogue business, including through a subsequent £590m (€865.1m) deal to buy a similar operation from FTSE 100 Index-listed GUS.
Littlewoods chairman David Simons said yesterday: “Index has made a loss in nearly every year of its 20-year history, and has accumulated losses of over £100m (€146.6m) despite many attempts by different management teams to turn the business around.”
He added: “The decision to divest the business has not been an easy one to make but it is the only solution to a difficult and unsustainable situation.
“Our concern now is for those employees affected and we will work hard with them and the unions to achieve the best outcome we can.”
Usdaw national officer John Gorle said: “This decision has come completely out of the blue. Our members who have contributed to the success of this company have been left reeling and utterly shocked by this devastating news.”
