Wednesday, August 4, 2021

News: JTF closes after sale falls through

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JTF Mega Discount Warehouse has closed its stores, including one in Rotherham, having collapsed into administration.

Established over 40 years ago, and with a recent turnover of circa £60m, JTF had been struggling to manage debts accrued as a result of the worsening retail climate and excessive head office costs.

In early 2020 the business was acquired by Arthur Harris who immediately implemented a restructuring plan which significantly reduced head office costs. However, he also recognised that the business could not survive with the high level of legacy debts.

The company secured a CVA (Company Voluntary Agreement) with creditors that would enable JTF Wholesale to continue to trade, despite it being during lockdown in the COVID-19 pandemic.

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This year, the Nottinghamshire-based, forty-year-old retail chain had been looking for a buyer and issued a notice of intention to appoint an administrator. Instead it collapsed at the end of July, resulting in the closure of all stores, including the one at Catcliffe, and the loss of around 500 jobs.

A statement issued on behalf of the company said that the pandemic had played a significant role in its demise, with the forced closure of stores wiping out fireworks and Christmas sales which were ‘two of the largest seasonal items for JTF’.

Around 100 workers are set to take legal action against the retail consortium after receiving notice that they had been made redundant with immediate effect after a deal for the sale of the business fell through.

National law firm Simpson Millar says it is now in the early stages of investigations to enable appropriate legal action to be brought to secure what is known as a Protective Award on their behalf for the company’s failure to properly consult staff regarding the mass redundancies.

Damian Kelly, head of employment law at the firm, said: “The current situation is making it difficult for many companies across most industries and it is no surprise that retail giants – and particularly those that are so reliant on physical footfall - are being significantly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Sadly in this instance we understand that there had been a buyer for the business, but that the sale will no longer be taking place. As a result, the number of employees who are facing redundancy is really quite significant.”

Images: Google Maps

3 comments:

Anonymous,  August 5, 2021 at 12:02 AM  

The few times I went in the stock seemed to be getting less and less they then launched a share scheme that did not look very good, also I think people got fed up with the spend £5 and get 12 quality brand toilet rolls for£2 but when travelling to get this offer they had sold out. From talking to other people this happened reguarly on all offers.

Anonymous,  October 17, 2021 at 9:55 PM  

Could not have happened to a better company, GOOD RIDDENS !

Anonymous,  August 27, 2022 at 5:45 PM  

RIDDENS! ?? Learn to spell!

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