// Watt Brothers collapses into administration
// 229 colleagues have been made redundant with immediate effect
Watt Brothers has filed for administration, resulting in the immediate redundancy of over 200 jobs.
The Scottish retailer appointed Blair Nimmo and Alistair McAlinden of KPMG as joint administrators to oversee the sale of the business.
Watt Brothers currently operates from 11 stores and has seen 229 jobs out of 306 made redundant immediately following its collapse into administration.
READ MORE: 2900 jobs at risk as Bonmarche falls into administration
The retailer’s Glasgow flagship remains open while running a stock clearance sale, although it’s unclear how long it will stay operational.
It has shut down stores in Ayr, Clarkston, Clydebank, Falkirk, Hamilton, Irvine, Lanark, Livingston, Port Glasgow and Robroyston.
Last year, Watt Brothers’ sales reached £214 million, though the sales were dragged by the retailer making a loss in both 2017 and 2018 as discounters and online stores chipped away at its market.
Fashion retailer Bonmarche also filed for administration on the same day as Watt Brothers after failing to buck the high street trend.
The administration has put 2887 jobs at risk, and further illustrates the difficulties many retailers face nowadays to survive against the ever-changing consumer behaviours.
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter
