// Office Outlet administrators to close 16 stores, resulting in 161 job losses
// Nine stores will shut down on April 7, with a further seven on April 10
// Office Outlet went into administration in March and is seeking a new owner
Administrators for Office Outlet have announced a raft of store closures and scores of job cuts as they continue to search for a new owner.
The retailer, formerly known as Staples, went under last month and administrators from Deloitte have confirmed that 16 stores will shut down this month, resulting in 161 job cuts.
At the time of its fall into administration, Office Outlet had 1200 employees and 90 stores.
READ MORE:
Of the stores shutting down, nine will close on April 7 and another seven will shutter on April 10.
The 161 redundancies these store closures will result in are in addition to the 106 jobs which were lost at Office Outlet’s head office and distribution centre in Daventry last month.
Richard Hawes, joint administrator from Deloitte, said that although advisers were still open to a sale of all or part of the business, some stores must be closed.
The first wave of store closures affects Office Outlet branches in Beckton, Catterick, Gloucester, Newport (Isle of Wight), Merton, Newcastle, Plymouth, Staples Corner (London), and Stratford.
The second wave will affect Cardiff, Carlisle, Manchester, Old Kent Road, Southampton, Walsall and Weston Super Mare.
US-based stationery giant Staples agreed to sell its UK shops to Hilco Capital, the former owner of HMV, in late 2016.
The stores were then renamed Office Outlet, but in 2018, a management buyout led by chief executive Chris Yates took control of the Office Outlet.
In August last year, Office Outlet launched a CVA which saw a handful of stores shut down as well as three years of free rent on 20 others.
Office Outlet is completely separate and independent from online retailer Staples.
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter
14 Comments. Leave new
Store in Edinburgh closing too you know when
Milton Keynes Branch also closing down.
Same as portsmouth
i dont suppose you know there last trading day?
Birmingham branch closing down also
Hayes-by-pass branch also closing.
Every store is now closing a member of staff told me today.
Store at Catterick Garrison has closed in the last week
Basildon Branch is closing down as well
Anyone know what happens to the leftover stock?
Their Epsom, Surrey store has signs up saying they are closing. It is not on either lists given in this article.
anyone know what happens to our guarantees? my new chair that I took out an extended warrantee on is broken…
Same at Worcester
British market is funny. Was in Toronto in May 2019 and there are massive Staple stores doing well with customers. The one I visited was thriving with coffee and music sub-stores inside.