Hundreds more jobs are cut at ailing retailer

And administrators acting for the company have also warned that up to 41 stores, including branches in Leeds, Halifax and Sheffield, may have to close by the end of next week.

Administrators Deloitte announced a total of 603 jobs have been lost from the company’s home delivery network.

The network operates from 12 hubs across the UK, including one in Leeds, where 41 jobs have been shed.

A further 57 employees have been made redundant from Comet’s head office at Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire, alongside 56 from a call centre in Clevedon and 17 from an office in Hull.

Those sites were also the subject of 330 redundancies last week.

Although there have been no job losses in Comet stores as yet, Deloitte has said up to 41 stores may have to close before the end of this month.

Deloitte joint administrator Chris Farrington said discussions continued with parties interested in parts of the business but that it was necessary to begin a store closure programme and to scale back the company’s support 
functions.

He added: “While we will continue to do all we can to 
preserve jobs, we are working hard to put in place comprehensive support to help those 
employees who are made 
redundant during the administration.”

Closing down sales, with increased discounts, have started in 27 stores.

A further 14 stores, which have not been named, may be identified for closure in the coming days unless a buyer can be found 
or new terms agreed with landlords.

Closing sales are underway at stores including Halifax, Leeds Crown Point and Sheffield at Drake House.

Bigger discounts will also be applied to products across all Comet stores from today.