The fate of thousands of Homebase staff, including those in Leicestershire, is up in the air after the firm collapsed into administration. Dozens of stores have been saved as part of a recue deal, but many others have an uncertain future.
Homebase appointed administrators at consultancy Teneo on Wednesday (November 13) prior to striking a deal with retail group CDS which owns The Range homeware outlets. The deal has seen them secure up to 1,600 jobs and 70 stores.
However, Teneo 49 other UK stores have yet to find a buyer, leaving the future of its remaining 2,000 workers uncertain. It is unclear if Leicestershire's two outlets - in Leicester's Putney Road and Market Harborough's Springfield Street - are among those yet to be saved.
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Teneo said the remaining stores will continue to trade as normal while administrators try to find a buyer. Damian McGloughlin, chief executive of Homebase, said the last three years had been “incredibly challenging” for DIY stores, blaming “a decline in consumer confidence and spending” after the pandemic.
He said: “Against this backdrop, we have taken many and wide-ranging actions to improve trading performance including restructuring the business and seeking fresh investment. These efforts have not been successful and today we have made the difficult decision to appoint administrators.”
Homebase was bought for £1 by investment firm Hilco Capital in 2018, which introduced a swathe of cost-cutting measures in the subsequent years. But the retail chain struggled as customers cut back on spending amid the cost-of-living crisis, and reported an £84.2 million loss last year.
In August, Sainsbury’s struck a deal to buy 10 Homebase stores and convert them into supermarkets.
The jobs still at risk include workers at Homebase’s head office in Milton Keynes, as well as the remaining stores. The rescue deal comes after a hunt for a buyer from Homebase’s previous owners Hilco, which is thought to have lasted for the last two months.
CDS, which is owned by retail magnate Chris Dawson, also bought parts of Leicester-founded Wilko after it collapsed last year. It is unclear which stores will remain branded as Homebase after the deal.
Administrators did not immediately disclose the locations of the 49 outlets which were not included in the rescue package. The administrators said all employee wages and benefits will be paid for their period of employment, while customer orders will still be fulfilled as far as possible.
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