House of Fraser store to close after negotiations fail

The House of Fraser store in Hull will close after the retailer’s new owner failed to agree terms with its landlord

New owner, Sports Direct and Newcastle United boss Mike Ashley, has begun consultations with its staff at three stores, along with Edinburgh and Swindon, after a long period of uncertainty.

330 people work across House of Fraser’s six Yorkshire stores. Deals have been agreed with its landlords in Doncaster, Grimsby, Huddersfield and Skipton, but there is no update on the future of its Leeds store.

Mr Ashley blamed “greedy landlords” for the closures.

Mr Ashley said: “I am disappointed that in my opinion a small number of greedy landlords still refuse to be reasonable.”

It is understood that Mr Ashley was demanding low, or in some cases, zero rents.

Mr Ashley added: “We’ve showed what we can achieve on the British high street when we work together with landlords.

“I would like to thank those landlords who have helped us to rescue approximately 3,500 jobs at the stores we have saved to date.

“I am calling on everybody to pull together, including landlords and local authorities in order to help to save as many House of Fraser stores and jobs as possible on the great British high street.”

Mr Ashley spoke in August about “greedy landlords”, which prompted the British Property Federation landlords’ group to accuse him of crying “unfair in the media when it doesn’t get want it wants”.

Mr Ashley bought the House of Fraser group out of administration for £90m on August 10. At the time he said he hoped to save around 47 of House of Fraser’s 59 outlets.

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