Peacocks shops to close in East Lancashire (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Peacocks shops to close in East Lancashire

6:00pm Wednesday 22nd February 2012 in Blackburn

SHUT Peacocks store

TWO East Lancashire budget fashion stores are set to close, it has been announced.

Peacocks shops in Charter Walk, Burnley, and The Mall, Blackburn, will be shutting down following a company buy-out.

It is understood a branch in Accrington has been saved.

The firm has been bought out by Edinburgh Woollen Mill after it went into administration last month.

After the deal bosses announced 224 stores would close nationwide while 388 shops would be saved.

This will result in around 3,100 job loses, however more than 6,000 redundancies have been prevented.

The number of jobs affected in East lancashire has not been revealed.

Chris Laverty, joint administrator at KPMG which handled the buyout, said: "The deal ensures the continued trading of a well-known name on the high street.

"While it is unfortunate that redundancies have been necessary, we are pleased that we have been able to preserve the majority of the business and jobs."

Edinburgh Woollen Mill, which has 380 stores, will keep the Cardiff headquarters of Peacocks.

Peacocks collapsed under a debt mountain in the biggest retail failure since Woolworths, placing 7,500 jobs in jeopardy.

The firm beat off Indian textile and clothing giant S Kumars Nationwide to secure the deal.

Edinburgh Woollen Mill chief executive, Philip Day said: "As you can imagine, there will be a considerable amount of work to undertake over the next few months to stabilise the situation, turn this business around, get the supply chain moving again and excite the customers with great products."