Re: more store closures and job cuts ahead in uk?

**Panda** Mon 30 Jan - 23:24

AnnaEsse wrote:
Panda wrote:
Badboy wrote:INDEPENDENT BOOKSHOPS ARE AT RISK OF CLOSURE ,SAYS THE BOOKSELLERS ASSOCIATION,AT LEAST IN PART BECAUSE OF CHARITY SHOPS.
(I ONCE BROUGHT BOOKS FROM AN INDEPENDENT BOOKSHOP IN LOOE.)

It's not just that, the internet and now kindle books have been responsible mostly, same as the Internet responsible for the decline in Newspaper sales.
One good thing, we won't need to chop down so many Trees.

My son said he did the ultimate in cheek just before Christmas. He went into Waterstone's to have a look at a book he was interested in, liked it, and then used his phone, while in the shop, to check the Amazon price and ordered it from Amazon while he was there!

How did people manage before Mobile phones????

**AnnaEsse** Tue 31 Jan - 7:29

Panda wrote:
AnnaEsse wrote:
Panda wrote:
Badboy wrote:INDEPENDENT BOOKSHOPS ARE AT RISK OF CLOSURE ,SAYS THE BOOKSELLERS ASSOCIATION,AT LEAST IN PART BECAUSE OF CHARITY SHOPS.
(I ONCE BROUGHT BOOKS FROM AN INDEPENDENT BOOKSHOP IN LOOE.)

It's not just that, the internet and now kindle books have been responsible mostly, same as the Internet responsible for the decline in Newspaper sales.
One good thing, we won't need to chop down so many Trees.

My son said he did the ultimate in cheek just before Christmas. He went into Waterstone's to have a look at a book he was interested in, liked it, and then used his phone, while in the shop, to check the Amazon price and ordered it from Amazon while he was there!

How did people manage before Mobile phones????

And even before answering machines on landlines! I remember waiting for important phone calls and not wanting to go out in case I missed them. The young people nowadays, who have been brought up with technology, have a hard time imagining what it was like.

**Panda** Tue 31 Jan - 7:43

Yes , but the sad part is, technology has taken away so much of human interaction and development. Everything you want to know is just a click away,
no need to be able to add subtract and multiply mobile langauage reduced to RUUP4IT? I"m just glad I"m not growing up today. more store closures and job cuts ahead in uk? - Page 7 294124

more store closures and job cuts ahead in uk? - Page 7 294124

**Badboy** Wed 1 Feb - 21:09

OCADO HAS HAD A PROFIT WARNING.(ABOUT £3MILLION IN RED.)
AMAZON WHO HAVE BEEN SELLING THEIR KINDLES AT A LOSS IN THE HOPE OF SELLING MORE BOOKS LATER HAS LOST MILLIONS OF £

**Badboy** Thu 2 Feb - 19:49

GAME IS UNABLE TO GIVE/OBTAIN CREDIT INSURANCE.
THEY MIGHT BE NEXT WITH THEIR 10,000? JOBS.
A PROFESSOR AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY RECKONS THE HIGH STREET CAN'T BE SAVED.

**Badboy** Fri 3 Feb - 19:02

astrazeneca to cut jobs here and abroad.(7,300 )

**Badboy** Mon 6 Feb - 23:35

carrefour/metro/tesco possibly to have lower profits in 2012,not sure if it would affect jobs.

**Badboy** Tue 7 Feb - 18:53

THERE COULD BE YET MORE JOB LOSSES WITH PERHAPS 50% OF SHOPS BY 2015 BEING EMPTY.
GAME ARE TO SACK 46 PEOPLE AT THEIR HQ.
33% OF SHOPS IN STOCKPORT ARE EMPTY.

**Badboy** Wed 8 Feb - 19:44

THOMAS COOK ARE FURTHER IN DEBT(£90 MILLION,METHINKS),I WONDER IF THEY WILL SURVIVE.

Guest Wed 8 Feb - 22:19

Badboy wrote:GAME IS UNABLE TO GIVE/OBTAIN CREDIT INSURANCE.
THEY MIGHT BE NEXT WITH THEIR 10,000? JOBS.
A PROFESSOR AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY RECKONS THE HIGH STREET CAN'T BE SAVED.

What High Street would that be, they are all the bloomin' same no matter where you go. There's no point going to a different city for shopping anymore, it's all the same shops with the same stuff. I like local shops that make or sell unique stuff, and there's less and less of them as time goes on. :(

**Badboy** Wed 8 Feb - 22:33

Iris wrote:
Badboy wrote:GAME IS UNABLE TO GIVE/OBTAIN CREDIT INSURANCE.
THEY MIGHT BE NEXT WITH THEIR 10,000? JOBS.
A PROFESSOR AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY RECKONS THE HIGH STREET CAN'T BE SAVED.

What High Street would that be, they are all the bloomin' same no matter where you go. There's no point going to a different city for shopping anymore, it's all the same shops with the same stuff. I like local shops that make or sell unique stuff, and there's less and less of them as time goes on. :(

A CURIOUS IDEA HAS COME TO ME,CLICK-AND-COLLECT AGENCIES(MIGHT BE INACTUAL(SP?),PEOPLE ORDERING THINGS FROM SAY AMAZON OR THE CATAGOGUE COMPANIES ETC AND COLLECTING THE ITEMS NEXT DAY) COULD BE SET UP IN SHOPPING CENTRES.

**Badboy** Sat 11 Feb - 0:39

COMET ARE TO CUT 450 JOBS(SUPPORT STAFF ETC)

**malena stool** Sat 11 Feb - 10:32

Iris wrote:
Badboy wrote:GAME IS UNABLE TO GIVE/OBTAIN CREDIT INSURANCE.
THEY MIGHT BE NEXT WITH THEIR 10,000? JOBS.
A PROFESSOR AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY RECKONS THE HIGH STREET CAN'T BE SAVED.

What High Street would that be, they are all the bloomin' same no matter where you go. There's no point going to a different city for shopping anymore, it's all the same shops with the same stuff. I like local shops that make or sell unique stuff, and there's less and less of them as time goes on. :(

The same here Iris, thats why Mrs S and myself enjoy market town shopping although many of these places are becoming more tourism orientated.

Lillyofthevalley Sat 11 Feb - 10:36

Yes I agree, Mr Valley has always said that the high street shops will die and the local village shops will make a come back, and this he said 10 years ago, maybe for once he might just be right!! more store closures and job cuts ahead in uk? - Page 7 613255

more store closures and job cuts ahead in uk? - Page 7 613255

Guest Sat 11 Feb - 10:41

Lillyofthevalley wrote:Yes I agree, Mr Valley has always said that the high street shops will die and the local village shops will make a come back, and this he said 10 years ago, maybe for once he might just be right!!

If fuel costs continue to rise then it just won't be viable to transport things over huge distances to stock shops. When I was a child, even simple things like Dutch cheese or New Zealand butter were a huge novelty because they came from abroad. I can see it eventually reverting to that in a number of years time. Foreign holidays won't be so prevalent, either; people will only go abroad for holidays every two or three years and not twice a year, like now.

Guest Mon 13 Feb - 16:11

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**Badboy** Fri 17 Feb - 0:21

14 RETAIL STORES CLOSE ON AVERAGE EVERY DAY IN GB DUE TO LACK OF CONSUMER DEMAND.

**Panda** Fri 17 Feb - 4:10

Major Retailers Shut 14 Shops Every Day

0 Comments

more store closures and job cuts ahead in uk? - Page 7 16154296

Analysts expect increasing retail vacancy rates in 2012

12:21am UK, Friday February 17, 2012

Nick Martin, North of England Correspondent

Big high street chains closed an average of 14 stores a day across Britain in 2011, figures reveal.

Multiple retailers like bookshops, electrical stores, home
furnishings and menswear fell in numbers whilst charity shops, pound
stores and credit unions bucked the trend.

According to data compiled on behalf of PwC by the Local Data Company (LDC), multiple retailers reduced their high street presence by 0.25% - a reduction of 174 shops in 2011.

Mike Jervis, PwC insolvency partner and retail specialist, said: "A
common feature of the retailers in distress who we are dealing with is
that they have too many locations.

Electricals and bookshops have suffered as these
products are now increasingly bought online but retailers in this sector
are typically carrying unnecessarily large property portfolios.

Mike Jervis, PwC insolvency partner and retail specialist

"Relatively long leases have been entered into in a growth phase of the economy which are no longer appropriate.

"Electricals and bookshops have suffered as these products are now
increasingly bought online but retailers in this sector are typically
carrying unnecessarily large property portfolios."

In the Greater Manchester town of Altrincham, a quarter of all shops are empty.

Mark Rubin, a retail space landlord says some of his tenants are struggling to keep open.

"On a number of occasions I have listened to tenants and decided the
rent should be lowered. But that's not a situation that can continue
forever. I have to explain to them that one day the landlord is going to
be in trouble."

Florist Janet Smith has been trading for 27 years but recently nearly went out of business. Her landlord reduced the rent.

"It look the strain off us, the landlord knows that he would rather
have us here than have to take over the property himself," she said.

"But the real problems are with rates - they are too high and there is no negotiation when times are bad."

Matthew Hopkinson, director of the Local Data Company, said: "In the
past the closures were offset by openings but 2011 has shown a true
decline in multiple retail and leisure outlets across Great Britain.

"With the move to out of town locations and the numbers of closures
being announced currently, this decline is likely to continue into 2012
and thus lead to a rise in vacancy rates."

**Badboy** Fri 17 Feb - 13:57

THANK YOU FOR THAT ARTICLE,PANDA

**AnnaEsse** Fri 17 Feb - 14:01

M&S has two stores in our town centre and they were planning to open a mega store on the out of town retail park, but have cancelled that option. They had planning permission, but suddenly changed their minds, which is quite good really, because the mega store would have taken a lot more shoppers from the main shopping area in town.

**Badboy** Fri 17 Feb - 15:21

AT THE RATE RETAILERS ARE CLOSING,I WONDER IF IT WILL BE WORTH IT OFFERING WORK EXPERIENCE IN RETAIL ON THE WORK PROGRAMME.

**Badboy** Tue 21 Feb - 0:26

1 IN 4 SMALL BUSINESSES IN BRITAIN ARE EXPECTED TO CLOSE IN NEXT 4 YEARS.
10,000 TOWN CENTRES STORES ARE EXPECTED TO CLOSE IN NEXT FEW YEARS.

**AnnaEsse** Tue 21 Feb - 7:37

Badboy wrote:1 IN 4 SMALL BUSINESSES IN BRITAIN ARE EXPECTED TO CLOSE IN NEXT 4 YEARS.
10,000 TOWN CENTRES STORES ARE EXPECTED TO CLOSE IN NEXT FEW YEARS.

Badboy, in my small town there are empty shops along one of the main shopping streets. These were all small businesses. There are also small businesses that are still going, who knows how, because I never see a customer in those shops as I pass. There is a shop that sells children's clothes and toys, that looks lovely and probably would have done well before the supermarkets started selling toys and clothes and the advent of ToysRus. I don't know how it keeps going because I have never seen a customer in there over the year or so that I've been walking along that street regularly.

**Badboy** Tue 21 Feb - 13:56

COULD TRAVELODGE BE IN TROUBLE,I THINK I READ IN GUARDIAN THEY OWE £500MILLION,BUT MAKE £47MILLION IN PROFITS AFTER TAX/INTEREST ETC

**malena stool** Tue 21 Feb - 22:05

Just got this of Google, Badboy.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/constructionandproperty/9094359/Travelodge-pulled-down-by-100m-debt-finance-bill.html

Travelodge pulled down by £100m debt finance bill
The debt pile of Travelodge is costing the budget hotel group £100m a year in finance costs and dragging it deep into the red, according to company accounts.

Travelodge has not made a pre-tax profit since 2006 Photo: PA By Graham Ruddick
6:45PM GMT 20 Feb 2012
6 Comments
The costs highlight the challenges facing Travelodge as creditors meet on Tuesday to discuss its future.

The latest annual accounts at Companies House show finance costs of £99.3m in the year to December 31, 2010, including interest on bank loans of £39.4m and interest on eurobonds of £51.9m.

The finance costs booked by Travelodge are being inflated by a payment in kind (Pik) note issued in 2006 when the company was acquired by Dubai International Capital (DIC).

The £50m Pik note charges interest at 11pc above Libor and has already grown in value to £78m.

The charges mean Travelodge has not made a pre-tax profit since 2006. In 2010, the company lost £102.4m, despite earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rising 5pc to £47.8m.

In the accounts, Travelodge says that its funding status "anticipates the company achieves rapid growth with debt repayment funded by either a refinancing or disposal event".

DIC bought Travelodge from Permira for £675m, backed by loans of £478m. However, those debts have now risen to £517m, plus £371m of eurobonds.

It is understood the fund owns 80pc of Travelodge, with management owning the remaining 20pc. DIC says it wrote off the value of its equity in Travelodge in 2008.

US hedge funds Avenue Capital and GoldenTree Asset Management, junior lenders to Travelodge, are now understood to be seeking to take control of the company through a debt-for-equity swap. This is expected to take months. However, as a first stage, the funds have agreed to underwrite a £60m loan to the hotel operator to ensure its future.

On Tuesday, the senior lenders, including Barclays, will be given the chance to fund the £60m loan. A spokesman for Travelodge said there is "no risk" of the hotel group going into administration.
Unquote.

It's often the opposite when spokesmen say that.

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