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Black + Blum appoints new sales manager Muir will be taking over the
Eight John Lewis shops set to close
The John Lewis Partnership (JLP) announced that it will not reopen eight John Lewis shops ‘to secure the business’ long- term future and respond to customers’ shopping needs’. It will now enter into consultation with impacted staff about its proposals.
This announcement comes as the final
wave of shop reopenings is confirmed. A further nine shops in Aberdeen, Ashford, Brent Cross, Chichester, Oxford, Peterborough, Reading, Sheffield and White City Westfield will reopened on July 30. Leicester also reopened when the local lockdown for the city is lifted, taking the total number of reopened John Lewis shops to 42. The Swindon outlet also reopen on July 30.
The shops identified for closure include two of the smallest in the estate – the travel hub shops at Heathrow and St Pancras – plus four At Home shops in Croydon, Newbury, Swindon and Tamworth, and two full size department stores in Birmingham and Watford. Approximately 1,300 staff across the eight shops will now enter into consultation. JLP said: ‘If redundancies are confirmed,
every effort would be made to find new roles where possible for Partners [staff] who wish to remain within the Partnership. Opportunities could include transferring to local Waitrose shops or working for
johnlewis.com and
waitrose.com as they continue to grow.’
JLP has also made a commitment to
provide support through a Retraining Fund, which will contribute up to £3,000 towards a recognised qualification or course for up to two years for any Partner with two years’ service or more. All Partners would be given access to a three-month support programme with an outplacement specialist to help with CV writing and interview skills. In addition to statutory redundancy
payments, Partners who have worked with the business for more than a year would be entitled to Partnership redundancy pay, which equates to two weeks’ pay for every year of service, regardless of age. Those with less than one year’s service who leave on grounds of redundancy would receive an ex-gratia tax-free payment equivalent to one week’s contractual pay.
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housewareslive.net
DKB Household appoints Jane Mason as sales and ecommerce director
In a move to strengthen and consolidate its UK sales and ecommerce operation, design and distribution specialist DKB Household has appointed Jane Mason to the newly created position of UK sales and ecommerce director. Jane Mason has a wealth of housewares experience having spent 14 years with Le Creuset and more recently as global sales director for Craster. DKB Household is known for brands such as Zyliss, Cole & Mason and Culinare.
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HousewaresLive.net •
twitter.com/Housewaresnews July/August 2020
Black + Blum, creators of food and drink on-the-go designs, has appointed Josh Muir to the position UK sales manager.
role from 29 June. He has an extensive and varied sales background, most recently working for 20th Century Fox, and prior to this with Danone and Coca Cola. “We are delighted to welcome Josh to the team at this important stage of the company’s development,” said Nick Cornwell, managing director. “He will continue to build on our loyal UK customer base – especially now, post lock down, as we are finding more consumers switching into food and drink on-the-go
products. It seems that more people are now taking a new approach to their eating and drinking out of home, to help keep themselves safe.” Muir commented: “I was
already a user of black + blum products and have always admired their approach to sustainable product design. Working with a smaller team, so obviously passionate about what they do, is something I am going to greatly enjoy. I am also looking forward to meeting our retail customers and to learning all about this exciting industry.”
Shopping centres under threat as intu faces administration
Intu has indicated that talks with lenders have failed to reach agreement and that administrators are likely to be called in. The retail giant has until midnight tonight to reach a deal. According to intu: “Discussions have continued with the intu Group’s creditors in relation to the terms of standstill-based agreements. Unfortunately, insufficient alignment and agreement has been achieved on such terms.
stakeholders. This is likely to involve the appointment of administrators.” If intu does indeed
go into administration, many of the nations biggest retail parks are likely to be affected, such as Metrocentre in Gateshead, Trafford Centre in
The Board is therefore considering the position of intu with a view to protecting the interests of its
Manchester and Lakeside in Essex. Intu has appointed KPMG as a contingency plan for administration.
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