Type
Bankruptcy
Country
Netherlands
Region
Location of affected unit(s)
Noord-, Oost- and West-Nederland
Sector
Retail
Retail Trade, Except Of Motor Vehicles And Motorcycles
Retail Sale Of Information And Communication Equipment In Specialised Stores
47.4 - Retail sale of information and communication equipment in specialised stores

475 jobs
Number of planned job losses
Job loss
Announcement Date
14 June 2016
Employment effect (start)
Foreseen end date

Description

The Dutch electronics retail store Scheer & Foppen, which currently has stores across the North, East, and West of the Netherlands, was declared bankrupt and dismissal procedures have been initiated for all of its 475 employees. The bankruptcy covers all 56 stores, several webshops (Bobshop and Internetshop) and the logistical service provider E-man. The independent installation contracting division of Scheer & Foppen with 100 employees has not been declared bankrupt and will continue functioning. The company has been suffering from the heavy competition in the branch from both larger chains of electronics retailers and Internet shopping. It is considered unlikely, though not yet completely ruled out, that the chain may be taken over by another company. The trade unions were not allowed to attend the meeting in which personnel was informed about the bankruptcy, but the union CNV Vakmensen has stated that it will keep a close eye on the proceedings in order to prevent employees, who are expected to continue working until at least 1 July 2016, from suffering cuts to their unemployment benefits.

Updated, 18/7/2016: On 30 June 2016, the attempt at finding a company for a takeover was announced to have failed. The company is likely to continue trading for a few weeks in order to sell remaining stock. All 475 employees will subsequently be dismissed. 


Sources

  • 14 June 2016: Volkskrant
  • 14 June 2016: nrc.nl
  • 14 June 2016: CNV Vakmensen

Citation

Eurofound (2016), Scheer & Foppen, Bankruptcy in Netherlands, factsheet number 87864, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/87864.