Maplin's administrators have announced further head office redundancies, following the batch they made earlier this month at the electronics retailer.
All Maplin stores are currently still open, although the administrators say they are “continuing to review the position”.
On 28 February, administrators from PwC were appointed at Maplin, after the firm said it couldn't carry on as a going concern after being hit by a weaker pound against the dollar, which made its US-sourced gadgets more expensive for customers.
So far, the administrators say it has not been possible to secure a buyer for the business. “While the administrators remain open to interest from potential buyers, it has been necessary to make a further 66 redundancies at Maplin’s head offices in London and Rotherham,” they said.
These job losses consist of 57 in London and 9 in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. This brings the total number of redundancies, including the 63 announced on 8 March, to 129. There are currently 79 employees retained at the head offices. “The administrators continue to review the position of Maplin stores and will provide further updates in due course,” they said.
Toby Underwood, joint administrator and PwC partner, added: “It is with real regret that we have made this decision. We are grateful for the support of the employees during this difficult period and we will make every effort to help the affected staff, working with the Maplin HR team over the coming days.”
Maplin Electronics currently employs around 2,300 staff and has an annual turnover of £235.8m. It operates 217 stores across the UK and Ireland. Maplin said it had experienced a “decline in performance as a result of the softening of consumer demand” in what has been a “challenging retail environment and higher-priced (US denominated) products”.
