Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Debenhams, the British high street retailer, has announced that that it will close 19 of its department stores across the country in January 2020, making 660 employees redundant. The store closures are part of a major restructuring programme. Representatives of the company said they aim to close 50 stores in total, but no further closures are planned this year. According to the company's management, this year's job cuts are fewer than originally anticipated and it was hoped that some staff could be redeployed.
The affected units are located in Altrincham, Ashford, Birmingham, Canterbury, Kirkcaldy, Chatham, Eastbourne, Folkestone, Great Yarmouth, Slough, Southport, Southsea, Stockton-on-Tees, Walton-on-Thames, Wandsworth, Welwyn, Witney, Wimbledon and Wolverhampton.
The company went into administration in April 2019, after months of internal struggles between its shareholders and it is now following an insolvency route known as a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), which allows it to reduce negotiate reduced rent on its remaining 163 stores.
Eurofound (2020), Debenhams, Closure in United Kingdom, factsheet number 99661, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/99661.