Shoe Zone makes job cuts as 20 stores axed

Shoe Zone, the Leicester-based retailer, has said it is making redudancies and won’t reopen 20 of its 490 stores, post-lockdown.

The news comes after the company posted a loss of £2.5m for the six months to 4 April. Revenues dropped over the same period from £73m in 2019 to £68.9m this year.

Shoe Zone said that a review of the viability of all stores, which began in January, will continue.

A statement from the company said: “Cash remains the key focus for the business and as stated on the 29 April 2020, the immediate focus will be on rebuilding cash balances to a higher level than previously carried and repaying the debt taken on as part of the CBILS scheme whilst fulfilling other statutory obligations. The Board remain confident that the Group’s current level of funding will be sufficient to secure the future of the business, assuming that sales return to a high proportion of previous sales during the next year.

“The Board would like to thank all of the Shoe Zone team and its business partners for their hard work and support in the first half of the financial year and during the current COVID-19 period.”