Prestigious jewellery chain with 155 UK sites to close 16 stores for good with jobs at risk
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Where possible, affected staff at the company, which has 709 support service staff members, will be redeployed
A PRESTIGIOUS jewellery chain with 155 UK sites is to close 16 stores putting dozens of jobs at risk.
The news comes after the business opened "one of the largest" Rolex boutiques in Europe in London earlier this month, a spokesperson said.
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In the last reported financial year, the group opened 22 showrooms, refurbished 15 and acquired 15 through jewellers Ernest Jones.
But now, The Watches of Switzerland Group - based in Leicestershire - has confirmed it will close 16 showrooms across the country and that 40 people were expected to leave the business.
Where possible, affected staff at the company - which has 709 support service staff members - will be redeployed.
The company said its "priority [was] to support all affected colleagues".
A statement from the Watches of Switzerland Group said: "We continually assess our operations to remain as efficient and productive as possible.
"Whilst we intend to continue growing our showroom estate organically and by acquisition, following a recent review, we have regrettably made the difficult decision to close 16 showrooms in the UK.
"We have also reviewed our support services to ensure we are operating in the most efficient and productive way to power our retail growth and are regrettably proposing that circa 40 roles will be at risk of redundancy."
The firm has not yet said which showrooms will close but we will update you as soon as we find out.
A number of high street chains do appear to be struggling financially and have closed locations.
Clothing brand Weird Fish has shut its location in Horsham, West Sussex and it has been taken off the list of store locations on the Weird Fish website.
Winfields has also announced it is shutting a number of its branches after suffering financial losses and going into administration.
Founded in the 1970s, Winfields has been a "long-established company" in the area.
Despite its popularity among locals though, the small hiking brand has suffered financials losses which are believed to have driven the brand's recent store closures.
New Look also confirmed yesterday it was shutting its Bexleyheath store for good, as it plans to axe nearly 100 locations.
RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis.
High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
However, additional costs have added further pain to an already struggling sector.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs from April will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: "The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025."
It comes after almost 170,000 retail workers lost their jobs in 2024.
End-of-year figures compiled by the Centre for Retail Research showed the number of job losses spiked amid the collapse of major chains such as Homebase and Ted Baker.
It said its latest analysis showed that a total of 169,395 retail jobs were lost in the 2024 calendar year to date.
This was up 49,990 – an increase of 41.9% – compared with 2023.
It is the highest annual reading since more than 200,000 jobs were lost in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced retailers to shut their stores during lockdowns.
The centre said 38 major retailers went into administration in 2024, including household names such as Lloyds Pharmacy, Homebase, The Body Shop, Carpetright and Ted Baker.
Around a third of all retail job losses in 2024, 33% or 55,914 in total, resulted from administrations.
Experts have said small high street shops could face a particularly challenging 2025 because of Budget tax and wage changes.
Professor Bamfield has warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.
"By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer's household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020."
The fashion retailer has struggled with tax changes announced in the Autumn budget.
Meanwhile charity shop Scope recently shut 39 stores, with all closing on March 31.
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