Rosebys closes its last store in Comet country

THE last shop in Comet country belonging to the troubled Rosebys home furnishings chain closed today (Thursday). The three staff at the shop in High Street, Hitchin, arrived for work to be told they had lost their jobs and the shop was closing immediately

THE last shop in Comet country belonging to the troubled Rosebys home furnishings chain closed today (Thursday).

The three staff at the shop in High Street, Hitchin, arrived for work to be told they had lost their jobs and the shop was closing immediately.

Henlow resident Sheila Stock, manager of the Hitchin store who had worked for Rosebys for nine years, said: "It was expected. I got into the shop at 9am and got a phone call and told to close.

"We were not one of the lucky ones although we were a busy shop and I was always hopeful it would stay open. It is not nice losing your job so close to Christmas but I have enjoyed my time with the company and have got no regrets.

"I will now be able to go and see my son and grandchildren in Canada for Christmas."

Two other Rosebys stores in Stevenage in Queensway and on the Roaring Meg Retail Park and two in Letchworth GC in the town centre and the Plinston Retail Park have already closed with the loss of 25 jobs.

The company went into administration at the end of September with debts believed to be over £30m. So far over 200 stores have closed with the loss of over 1,000 jobs.

Administrators KPMG said 77 of the stores and its stock had been bought by Duvetco Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dumfriesshire-based Edinburgh Woollen Mill.

Howard Smith, joint administrator and KPMG restructuring associate partner, said: "Clearly it is unfortunate that further redundancies have been unavoidable. But in difficult trading conditions, the sale of a number of stores has been secured, which will safeguard many jobs and help achieve a return for creditors.