Five jobs go at Birthdays store in Cookstown

FIVE people are to lose their jobs at Birthdays in Cookstown’s James Street as the store faces closure after parent company Clinton Cards’s administrators ruled to shut stores across the UK.

Nine jobs at the Magherafelt Clinton Cards store remain at risk as the administrators confirmed they will close around 200 stores - but failed to specify which ones.

The company went into administration earlier this month and last week it was announced that all Birthdays stores would close from Monday May 21, with the “store closure programme” running into June.

Clinton’s was founded in 1968 and is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The administrators said: “It has become clear that the business is burdened with an untenable retail estate and as such, the Joint Administrators have regrettably taken the decision to close approximately 350 stores from the total estate of 784 stores nationwide.

“The stores in question are located throughout the country and employ approximately 2,800 full time and part time staff.”

Peter Saville, Joint Administrator and Partner at Zolfo Cooper said: “Given the sheer size of the Clinton Cards retail estate and the overall performance, we were left with no alternative to this difficult decision. I am hopeful that the action we have taken will allow us to preserve value in the core underlying business, thereby allowing us and potential buyers to focus on a profitable and viable retail estate going forward.”

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