Woolworths to close all stores by January 5 [UPDATED]

Woolworths to close all stores by January 5 [UPDATED]

Staff informed of retailer’s decision to close doors for the final time in New Year after administrators fail to find a buyer.

Administrator Deloitte has confirmed that all 807 Woolworths stores will close by January 5.

The financial specialist has abandoned its attempts to find a buyer for the retail chain Woolworths or entertainment distribution arm EUK as a going concern.

Closures will commence on December 27 with 200 stores shutting their doors, followed by another 200 on December 30. This will continue on January 2 and 5.

A total of 27,000 full-time and temporary staff will lose their jobs across the stores.

Branch managers received the news by email. They were informed not to speak to the press and the branch diyweek.net contacted had been given very little information about its future.

The distribution centres supporting the stores, which employ around 500 staff are likely to close before the end of December.

It has been confirmed that 300 of the stores are still 'under offer', with bids from a number of food, clothing and discount retailers. Deloitte revealed that there is also 'considerable interest' in the other 500 stores.

All employees will be paid until the end of December and the administrators have said that 'staff will be retained for a period following the store closures'.

Deloitte added: "The administrators are working closely with the Redundancy Payments Office and Job Centre Plus to provide support for all staff, which will include a fast track process for paying redundancy entitlements."

Neville Kahn, joint administrator at Deloitte said: “Whilst negotiations for the sale of Woolworths’ retail arm remain ongoing, and we continue to speak to new interested parties, regrettably we have had to begin a store closure programme. We are extremely grateful to the staff and management for their support throughout this difficult time.

“We are confident that we will sell the leases of the 300 stores currently under offer and are hopeful that our ongoing discussions with other parties will also prove successful.”

Meanwhile the closing down sale continues across the stores, with discounts of 20%-60%. 50 million new stock items will be received into stores this week where further discounts will be applied in due course.

Woolworths to close all stores by January 5 [UPDATED]

Woolworths to close all stores by January 5 [UPDATED]

Staff informed of retailer’s decision to close doors for the final time in New Year after administrators fail to find a buyer.

 

 

 

Administrator Deloitte has confirmed that all 807 Woolworths stores will close by January 5.

 

The financial specialist has abandoned its attempts to find a buyer for the retail chain Woolworths or entertainment distribution arm EUK as a going concern.

 

Closures will commence on December 27 with 200 stores shutting their doors, followed by another 200 on December 30. This will continue on January 2 and 5.

 

A total of 27,000 full-time and temporary staff will lose their jobs across the stores.

 

Branch managers received the news by email. They were informed not to speak to the press and the branch diyweek.net contacted had been given very little information about its future.

 

The distribution centres supporting the stores, which employ around 500 staff are likely to close before the end of December.

 

It has been confirmed that 300 of the stores are still 'under offer', with bids from a number of food, clothing and discount retailers. Deloitte revealed that there is also 'considerable interest' in the other 500 stores.

 

All employees will be paid until the end of December and the administrators have said that 'staff will be retained for a period following the store closures'.

 

Deloitte added: "The administrators are working closely with the Redundancy Payments Office and Job Centre Plus to provide support for all staff, which will include a fast track process for paying redundancy entitlements."

 

Neville Kahn, joint administrator at Deloitte said: “Whilst negotiations for the sale of Woolworths’ retail arm remain ongoing, and we continue to speak to new interested parties, regrettably we have had to begin a store closure programme. We are extremely grateful to the staff and management for their support throughout this difficult time.

 

“We are confident that we will sell the leases of the 300 stores currently under offer and are hopeful that our ongoing discussions with other parties will also prove successful.”

 

Meanwhile the closing down sale continues across the stores, with discounts of 20%-60%. 50 million new stock items will be received into stores this week where further discounts will be applied in due course.    

FW: Vote for Redbridge's Parks

 

 

Vote for Redbridge's Parks
Help win £400,000 each for Fairlop Waters and Goodmayes Park. Grants will be awarded to the London parks that recieve the most public votes. Go to www.london.gov.uk/parksvote and vote for our parks.
The Mayor of London has short-listed these as Priority Parks. Grants will be awarded to parks that recieve the most public votes. Redbridge has fantastic parks and open spaces for relaxation, sport, nature, children's play and organised activities.
Help swing the vote for Redbridge's Parks
The bid money would be used at Fairlop Waters to: develop the venue into a state of the art attraction offering a mix of sports and leisure activities, including sailing and climbing  improve footpaths and cycle ways create artist-designed gateways protect its amazing wildlife.
A popular vote for Goodmayes Park could: make a cleaner, more welcoming natural space develop new flower beds improve entrances and information for all provide an outdoor gym
Go to www.london.gov.uk/parksvote and vote! In addition to voting online you can also vote by text message: Text PARKS followed by your full POSTCODE to 62967* *Texts cost 10p plus your standard network rate
You have been sent this email as part of a London Borough of Redbridge distribution list. If you no longer wish to recieve emails from this source then please click here.

Some of you may be aware that Fullwell SNT has been doing a lot of work relating to bogus callers.

 

One particular area of concern was raised by Tracey at the last Ward Panel meeting and relates to a male calling door-to-door claiming to be a Fireman and selling raffle tickets in aid of a daughter suffering from leukaemia. Both these claims are false. This has also been featured in the Ilford Recorder.

 

As the direct result of our work the same suspect has been arrested twice for these offences, and he has now been charged with several matters. He was taken to court in custody but subsequently granted bail. As this matter is subject to current court proceedings I am limited to what I can say at this stage, but I am certain you will be hearing a great deal more about this in the New Year.

 

We have since received similar reports of a male calling at doors in the Fullwell area selling raffle tickets for a daughter with leukaemia. Whilst the most recent reports do not feature the Fireman aspect they are strikingly similar in method to the previous offences. At this stage we are unable to identify the caller as being one in the same with the person on bail, otherwise he would already be arrested. If it is however, and we are able to apprehend him committing further offences, we would not only have the further offences, but also a possible breach of conditional bail to take back before the court.

 

The male from the most recent incidents is described as a white male, aged 35-40, 5 ft 6 inches tall, with short dark brown hair, scruffy appearance. The tickets offered for sale are standard cloakroom tickets. The common theme is the claim to be collecting on behalf of a daughter suffering with leukaemia.

 

Please circulate this information as widely as possible and inform your members that if the suspect is still there or nearby a 999 call is justified. Officers responding should be aware of the situation, but it would also be helpful if the caller could mention the SN interest and the Recorder article to assist the call centre staff. If anyone has further information, or reports of a more historical nature, please call the team on 020 8721 2570 as normal.

 

NWW members responding to the work of the SN Team and others have already secured significant success in this area, and we are grateful for your continued help.

 

Chris Chandler PS 18JI

Fullwell SNT

FW: Bogus Caller and Raffle Tickets

 

Dear Panel Members/NHW Coordinators,

Some of you may be aware that Fullwell SNT has been doing a lot of work relating to bogus callers.

One particular area of concern was raised by Tracey at the last Ward Panel meeting and relates to a male calling door-to-door claiming to be a Fireman and selling raffle tickets in aid of a daughter suffering from leukaemia. Both these claims are false. This has also been featured in the Ilford Recorder.

As the direct result of our work the same suspect has been arrested twice for these offences, and he has now been charged with several matters. He was taken to court in custody but subsequently granted bail. As this matter is subject to current court proceedings I am limited to what I can say at this stage, but I am certain you will be hearing a great deal more about this in the New Year.

We have since received similar reports of a male calling at doors in the Fullwell area selling raffle tickets for a daughter with leukaemia. Whilst the most recent reports do not feature the Fireman aspect they are strikingly similar in method to the previous offences. At this stage we are unable to identify the caller as being one in the same with the person on bail, otherwise he would already be arrested. If it is however, and we are able to apprehend him committing further offences, we would not only have the further offences, but also a possible breach of conditional bail to take back before the court.

The male from the most recent incidents is described as a white male, aged 35-40, 5 ft 6 inches tall, with short dark brown hair, scruffy appearance. The tickets offered for sale are standard cloakroom tickets. The common theme is the claim to be collecting on behalf of a daughter suffering with leukaemia.

Please circulate this information as widely as possible and inform your members that if the suspect is still there or nearby a 999 call is justified. Officers responding should be aware of the situation, but it would also be helpful if the caller could mention the SN interest and the Recorder article to assist the call centre staff. If anyone has further information, or reports of a more historical nature, please call the team on 020 8721 2570 as normal.

NWW members responding to the work of the SN Team and others have already secured significant success in this area, and we are grateful for your continued help.

Chris Chandler PS 18JI
Fullwell SNT

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Last credit insurer pulls out of Woolworths

High street chain’s woes deepen as Corface withdraws cover for suppliers amid concerns for retailer’s financial health.

French insurer Corface has now withdrawn its cover to Woolworth's suppliers. The news follows that of Euler Hermes and Atradius, which had already taken similar steps.

There are fears over the future of the business with no big credit insurers now covering suppliers of the retailer, which will no doubt result in disruptions to the supply chain.

It is common practise for businesses, such as Woolworths, to pay for goods as much as 90 days after receiving them, meaning wholesalers are often inclined to take out insurance to cover them if the company struggles to foot the bill.

With wholesalers unable to take out insurance with Woolworths, they may start to insist on quicker payment or even cease supply altogether, having a knock-on effect on the retailer's cash flows.

However, a spokesman for the company said that Woolworths, "is comfortable with the financial and cash position of the group".

He added: "A substantial proportion of Woolworth's Retail suppliers have traditionally operated without credit insurance and we are confident that we will be able to ensure a successful Christmas for all our suppliers and customers."

Corface has also withdrawn its cover to suppliers of sports retailer JJB.

Your Barkingside

Buy Tickets Here...

NHW info on scam

Below is a scam reported to be operating in the west of the Borough. So far we have had no similar reports, but it could come this way. To date there have only been two victims but  both are elderly, so whilst not prevalent it is of considerable concern.

This is how it works:

A female phones the victim claiming to be from the bank and states there is a problem with the victims bank card and that the card needs to be collected.

A male attends the address purporting to be from a cab company to collect and deliver the card to the bank.

One victim handed over the card and has had over £1000 taken from their account.

The second victim refused to hand over the card when the "taxi" arrived .

On the occasion the card was handed over the female rang back and asked for the validation code on the rear of the card.

Any information on this to us please on 020 8721 2570, unless a suspect is present or nearby in which case it easily justifies 999.

Chris Chandler PS 18JI

London Low Emission Zone

This scheme commenced on 4 February but from 7 July 2008, it will be extended to include additional vehicles. The whole of the Greater London area has been designated a Low Emission Zone (LEZ). Vehicles that do not meet the required emissions standards are required to pay a £200 daily charge to drive within the zone or risk a £1000 Penalty Notice Charge.

 

The current LEZ applies to all diesel engined lorries over 12 tonnes but in future the LEZ will apply:            

From 7 July 2008 to all diesel engined lorries between 3.5 and 12 tonnes and buses and coaches over 5 tonnes with more than 9 seats;

From 4 October 2010 to all diesel engined vans over 1.205 tonnes and minibuses under 5 tonnes with more than 9 seats.

For further information, Transport for London (TfL) has set up a dedicated enquiries service (0845 607 0009) to help vehicle owners and operators understand what the LEZ means for them and what they have to do to comply with the scheme. TfL’s website www.tfl.gov.uk/lezlondon also provides detailed information about the LEZ.

 

 

 

Retail Scene

Boots and Majestic Wine have both reported strong sales and pre-tax profits but there has been some disturbing news from both Land of Leather and ScS Upholstery as they seek rights issues to bail them out of trouble. ScS is valued at just £3.5m compared with £190m two years ago. These two companies reflect the torrid time that furniture retailers are currently experiencing as consumers defer from making big ticket purchases.

 

BRC reported that like-for-like sales for May were up 1.9% on last year. This made welcome reading after two consecutive months where sales had declined on the same period in 2007. London reported strong growth up 8.2%, with Europeans capitalising on the strong euro, whilst US and Japanese visitors are still feeling the exchange pinch.

 

 

 

Economic Scene

The CBI has just thrown a bucket of cold water over the UK economy in its latest report. It predicts 2009 will see growth of about 1.3%, the slowest since the 1992 recession, with unemployment rising to about 1.8m, a rise of 150,000.

 

House prices have fallen on average about £15,000 this year and many builders are now mothballing sites rather than starting work. Much hinges on the price of oil which having reached nearly $140 a barrel earlier this month is trading at $133 today. How much the price is being driven by hedge fund speculation is impossible to know. It is possible that a slowing economy could drive the price down but it is not a given.

 

The Bank Governor has had to write a letter to the Chancellor as CPI reached 3.3% in May - above the 3% ‘trigger’ for only the second time since 1997. Containing inflationary pressures, the primary aim of the Bank of England, is unlikely to preclude the possibility of rising interest rates in the months ahead, although the Chancellor may prefer to receive regular letters from Mervyn King rather than see consumers (voters!) suffer even more than the market effects of inflation reaching above 4% by the year end.

 

 

 

Crime Information Update

Dear all,

Just a brief note with some information that should be of concern to the members of your various groups.

Across the borough (but fortunately not Fullwell Ward) we have seen several recent distraction burglaries. The caller has been posing as a water board official to gain entry.

Also we have had an isolated incident of another old favourite, an Asian male 5’6” 30yrs, called at an address in Ewellhurst Rd claiming to be a neighbour asking to borrow money for petrol. Needless to say he was neither a neighbour, nor likely to ever repay the loan. On this occasion the resident did the right thing.

Please pass on especially to your elderly and vulnerable residents. Obviously please reoprt any further instances to Police, 999 if the suspect is still there or nearby.

Chris Chandler PS 18JI
Fullwell SNT

FW: Business and the Redbridge Conversation

Redbridge Council has just launched the Redbridge Conversation. The Council is asking everyone who lives, works or invests in the Borough to talk about the long-term improvements they want to see, and how the Council should pay for them.  

There are a number of options discussed in the Redbridge Conversation that could affect your business. They include:

• sale of car parks and increased parking charges
• improving community safety with street lighting and CCTV
• expanding recycling schemes
• regeneration of Ilford town centre

Businesses are being invited to take part in discussions and events across the Borough. You can take the 'You Choose' challenge online and tell the Council how it should invest in the Borough's future www.redbridge.gov.uk/conversation.  

Please forward this message to people in your business network who might be interested in having a say. If you would like to host a Redbridge Conversation debate within your business network, the Council can provide resources to make sure people taking part are properly informed.  

The results of the Redbridge Conversation will be sent to Councillors, who will be taking decisions that will shape the Borough's long-term future. You can find out about all the Council's investment and funding options on Redbridge i, the Council's website www.redbridge.gov.uk.

To find out more about the Redbridge Conversation, contact Eddie Gibb, Head of Marketing and Communications, on 020 8708 3763 or eddie.gibb@redbridge.gov.uk

FW: BARNARDOS TICKET LINK NOW LIVE

TICKETS ON SALE HERE NOW FOR ALL FANS

http://www.ledzeppelintribute.co.uk/ Led Zep Too website

http://www.rainbowbridgemusic.com/2.html Rainbow Bridge website

http://www.myspace.com/tinsoldiercoversband TinSoldier website

http://www.heaters.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/default.htm The Heaters Website

TICKETS ON SALE NOW

Barkingside High Street - Danny’s pie and mash

Slicks Barbers

Chadz Menswear

With love Florist.

Romford South Street - Professional Music Technology

Billericay - The New Crawdaddy Blues Club

Together with Barnardo’s charity we are putting on this great music event for 5,000 people on 24^th August at the Barkingside Recreation Ground

We have a fantastic line up of music headlining with

The Stars from the Commitments from the classic 1991 film about the formation of the "World's Hardest Working Band”

Adults are £10 a ticket or £20 for family ticket of two adults and two children, so come and enjoy the music and other attractions we will have in the park that day,

Also staring in our line up are

Led Zep Too, one of the best Led Zeppelin tribute bands around who are rather proud of the fact that Ex Choir boy / drummer aled jones said “ I will never play with you guys again”

The Heaters are a fantastic four piece blues outfit who play at festivals all over the UK and also run and are the resident band at The New Crawdaddy Blues Club in Billericay Essex.

Rainbow Bridge are very talented and draw their feel from such bands as The Who The Jam and The Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

Tin Soldier are a great rock covers band who focus on many of the classic rock tunes that are overlooked by most and therefore leave people hearing something a little bit different.

Lauren Derwent is a singer songwriter from Hertfordshire who is a gifted musician and singer songwriter, who sang with the National Youth Orchestra for 5 years touring the uk and Florida.

Bryan Perez became a guitar child prodigy at the age of 7 writing his own music and performing on Television and concerts worldwide, Bryans style is influenced by rock flamenco and dance with a universal appeal

Also featuring throughout the day will be DJ / compare Mark Dover Time FM’s very own breakfast Dj.

We have also lined up some great entertainment around the venue, see you there…..

Political Scene

David Cameron has promised that a Conservative government will do more to help small shops. This is an early release prior to the work of the Conservative Enterprise Commission on small shops and high street regeneration that will release its report in May. The CEO of bssa has been a member of the Commission and is very hopeful that the recommendations, if they become policy in the party manifesto, will make a significant difference to the long term welfare of the high street and independent retailers generally. We would hope to publish a full report in June.