Hundreds of jobs at risk as retailer announces store closures

Brighthouse is shutting 30 of its shops, putting 350 jobs at risk as it battles a £22.1m pre-tax loss and faces the introduction of a cap on interest rates in the rent-to-own industry.

The company is closing about 10% of its estate which will take place over the next two months, and includes three stores in the West Midlands – Rugby, Stafford and Nuneaton.

Brighthouse, which employs about 3,000 people, said it had informed staff.

A spokesman said: “We are working to redeploy as many people as possible into alternative roles but redundancies will be inevitable.

“We will be speaking to all customers affected by the store closures and either transferring them to another local store or serving them online.

“We’re also introducing PayPoint, allowing customers to pay BrightHouse in cash at 28,000 locations across the UK.”

For the six months to 29 September, Brighthouse reported a rise in pre-tax losses to £22.1m from £19.9m.

Meanwhile, last year, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced it was introducing a cap in interest rates that rent-to-own firms like BrightHouse will be able to charge their customers.

Rent-to-own customers make monthly payments on a product such as a cooker or a television until they have paid in full.

The FCA has ruled that from April, the maximum interest paid will be no more than the cost of the product itself.

List of Brighthouse stores set for closure:
Aylesbury
Basingstoke
Bognor Regis
Bromley
Cowley
Dunstable
Eccles
Gravesend
Haverfordwest
High Wycombe
Leeds Merrion
Macclesfield
Maidstone
Newark
Newport (IOW)
Nuneaton
Perth
Rugby
Scarborough
Seaham
Selby
Southport
Stafford
Stirling
Thetford
Trowbridge
Watford
Weymouth
Whitehaven
Yeovil