Peacocks closures a blow to Shropshire towns

Business leaders today described the closure of Peacocks stores in Shropshire as a 'blow' – and warned other businesses could follow suit by the end of the year.

Stores in Telford, Whitchurch, Market Drayton and Oswestry are closing as part of a deal struck with Edinburgh Woollen Mill. The closure of the stores comes after Peacocks collapsed under a debt mountain last month.

It was sold by administrators and it means thousands of jobs are being axed across the county.

Nationally the deal with Edinburgh Woollen Mill will save 388 shops and more than 6,000 jobs but administrators from KPMG said it had been forced to close 224 stores with immediate effect, leading to 3,100 redundancies nationwide.

KPMG confirmed about 15 jobs would be lost in Whitchurch, 16 in Oswestry, 24 in Telford and seven in Market Drayton.

Andy Brown, chairman of Market Drayton Chamber of Trade and Commerce, today spoke of his concern the store in High Street was closing.

He said: "It is another blow for the town.

"It was inevitable really after recent news that they were struggling nationally and not just in Market Drayton.

"It is a big site and employed quite a few people.

"I think we will see more national companies and smaller private businesses do the same before the end of the year.

"People's shopping habits have changed and maybe the days of small town centres where people do their shopping are dwindling."

Chris Laverty, joint administrator at KPMG, said that although it was unfortunate that redundancies had been necessary, they were pleased they had been able to preserve the majority of the business and jobs.".

By James Pugh