Millets jobs go as stores close

Hundreds of jobs are set to be axed at Millets and Blacks Outdoor stores after their parent company announced plans to close 89 branches nationwide.

Another 50 jobs are to go at outdoor clothing company Blacks Leisure's Northampton head office – one in five of the total.

Blacks said the store closures and proposed head office job losses were necessary to ensure the survival of the group. It warned it was working with advisers at accountants KPMG to draw up plans for restructuring.

The company operates 256 Millets shops, including branches in Wolverhampton, Walsall, Merry Hill, Lichfield, Kidderminster and Stafford. It also has 116 Blacks Outdoor outlets, one of them at Merry Hill.

Today's announcement did not say which branches would close but described the 89 shops due to close as a "considerable drag" on the outdoor division, which has traded profitably over the last two years.

Blacks admitted it has to come up with a new restructuring plan to satisfy its bankers. The company did not disclose how many jobs will be affected by the closure plan, but it is likely to be in the hundreds. Blacks employs around 5,000 people nationwide at more than 400 stores.

Blacks agreed a £40 million lending facility with Lloyds Banking Group in July but "recent, unexpected difficult trading" has meant it is likely to breach its lending terms.

As part of the restructuring, Blacks last week called in administrators to its 11 O'Neill boardwear stores, putting 90 jobs at risk.

Management said there was "no reasonable prospect" of restoring loss-making Sandcity – the subsidiary which owns the stores – to profit.