New hope over Peacock stores rescue

Edinburgh Woollen Mill (EWM) bought 388 Peacocks stores out of administration, saving 6,000 jobs, and is now in talks with landlords in an attempt to reopen some of the unprofitable stores that were not part of the deal.

Philip Day, the owner of EWM, said: “A lot of the 244 stores that closed were blindingly unprofitable so we don’t want to reopen those, but if we get the right sort of deals we could reopen 75 of them.

“We will look to go to monthly rents and get a rent reduction. If we can get new lease deals, we’ll try to reopen those shops,” he told a Sunday newspaper.

More than 3,100 jobs were lost last week after administrator KPMG announced the immediate closure of stores that were not part of the EWM takeover.

However it is thought that food retailers such as Starbucks, Sainsbury’s and Greggs, as well as discounter Poundland, will be interested in the closed shops.