9:33am Thursday 18th March 2010
SOUTHAMPTON’S branch of Ethel Austin has survived a second major swathe of closures at the collapsed chain, which has seen 696 jobs axed and a further 81 branches shut.
It is just weeks after administrators of the budget fashion brand culled 124 stores, including the only other two remaining Hampshire branches in Cosham and Havant.
Of the 276 Ethel Austin branches operating at the start of the year, just 71 remain, including the Shirley High Street store, “for the time being”.
Administrator MCR is still hopeful of selling the rump of the 76-year-old chain but, thanks to the economic slowdown and the brand’s troubled recent past, buyers are proving thin on the ground.
Geoff Bouchier, joint administrator, said: “It is a difficult retail climate and until such time as any sale of the businesses can be completed, cost cutting measures need to be taken to allow the businesses to trade on in the short term.
There are still opportunities for a purchaser to come forward.’’ In 2008, workers at five Hampshire Ethel Austin stores were among 2,500 jobs in the UK saved by a deal with veteran retailer Elaine McPherson who bought the chain out of its first administration. But she was unable to turn the business around and called in administrators again earlier this year.
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