More jobs go as six Ponden Mill shops sold
A FURTHER 45 jobs have been shed after the group behind the Ponden Mill retail brand went into administration.
Administrators acting on behalf of Marston Mills have revealed that the jobs have been lost at the group's operations in Keighley, West Yorkshire.
Forty one redundancies have been made as part of a reduction in the group's warehouse operation, while a further four jobs have been lost at the company's headquarters.
Homeware and soft furnishings retailer Ponden Mill saw administrators from Ernst & Young in Manchester appointed last month to its parent company Marston Mills and 44 staff were made redundant at its head office.
However, the administrators have revealed that six Ponden Mill shops have been acquired by Northern Ireland-based bed linen retailer Bedeck, saving 46 jobs at the outlets.
The move follows the sale last month of 33 of the larger Ponden Mill stores to cut-price retailer Instore after the group went into administration.
The sale of the six Ponden Mill shops to Bedeck include one at York Designer Outlet.
The others are at Tweed Mill in North Wales, Trentham Gardens in Stoke, Linen Green in Northern Ireland, Twyford, and in Street, Somerset, has secured 46 jobs.
Huddersfield-based Instore acquired the 33 stores for £3.8m through its subsidiary Poundstretcher, saving 384 jobs.
The remaining shops, which trade under the Ponden Mill and Life from Coloroll brands on the high street, factory outlets, mill stores and department store concessions, have remained open.
Before the sale to Instore, the Ponden Mill business comprised 135 stores and 80 department store concessions, employing 1,300 people.
The struggling Marston Mills business was sold by leisure tycoon Trevor Hemmings, the owner of Blackpool Tower, last month to the London-based turnaround fund Agilo.
Joint administrator, Simon Allport, said: “We are in talks with a number of interested parties concerning the sale of the remaining parts of the business and hope to see some further transactions in the coming weeks.”
Ponden Mill has struggled as supermarket chains have moved more heavily into non-food market sectors.
