M&Co’s Lancashire stores saved in major company restructure

The chain’s outlets in Clitheroe, Garstang, Cleveleys and St Annes are four of more than 200 to be saved, after the company announced a restructure that will see 48 close their doors for the final time and 380 jobs lost.

The Scottish business appointed administrators in April after stating it had faced a number of difficulties, which were made worse by the coronavirus pandemic.

M&Co’s chief executive Andy McGeoch said: “It quickly became clear that best way to save most jobs and most stores was to enter administration, with a new company acquiring the assets of the old business, and this process has now been finalised.

"Covid has been by far the biggest challenge our family business has faced in almost 60 years, and I am really pleased that we have been able to maintain a presence in over 200 communities.

"Local economies rely to a huge degree on their town centres and we have seen too many High Streets hollowed out by successive shop closures. More and more people are beginning to realise that, if they don’t support their town centres, everyone’s quality of living really takes a hit, so we are proud to be playing a part in the drive to shop locally.

Mr McGeoch added that the clothing retailer is planning to work in "partnership with other local retailers to highlight the tremendous range of shopping that can be found in communities".

“Local economies rely to a huge degree on their town centres and we have seen too many high streets hollowed out by successive shop closures.

"More and more people are beginning to realise that, if they don’t support their town centres, everyone’s quality of living really takes a hit so we are proud to be playing a part in the drive to shop locally," he said.

The administration process, which is being managed by Deloitte, will see the estate reduced from 265 to 218 stores, with around 380 redundancies from a total workforce of over 2,600.