More than 130 jobs lost as Jessops shuts West Midland shops

MORE than 130 jobs have been lost in the West Midlands with the closure of the Jessops photographic equipment retail chain.

Across the West Midlands 17 shops have closed with the loss of 131 jobs in total including 36 in Birmingham, 11 in Solihull and eight in Wolverhampton.

Administrators Edward Williams, Rob Hunt and Matthew Hammond, of PwC were appointed on Wednesday to try and salvage what they could of the retail operation but wasted little time in closing down the business completely.

Mr Williams said he and his colleagues had reviewed the position of the business and held extensive discussions with suppliers around their support for ongoing trading. However, it quickly became apparent that the business was unable to continue to trade and as a result it shut down the entire retail operation, comprising 187 stores nationwide.

“Regrettably, this will result in around 1,370 job losses across the stores with further job losses likely, in due course, at the head office in Leicester,” said Mr Williams.

Stock will be collected from branches over the coming days and returned to a central warehouse.  It will be returned to suppliers if they are entitled to it. As a consequence of the closure, the administrators said Jessops was no longer able to accept returned product from customers.

“This is an extremely sad day for Jessops and its employees. We are very grateful for the support we have received since our appointment and we will continue to ensure that employees are paid as they assist us during the closure,” added Mr Williams.

The stores closing and the jobs lost are: Worcester (9), Solihull (11), Birmingham (36), Merry Hill (7), Burton (4), Coventry (6), Lichfield (4), Nuneaton (4), Shrewsbury (4), Telford (4), Wolverhampton (8), Leamington (8), Rugby (5), Redditch (7), Stratford-on-Avon (6), Kidderminster (4), and Evesham (4).