Argyll stores among first hit as Woolworth’s closes down

Dunoon today (27th December) was one of the first fleet of Woolworth’s stores to close as the life of the company comes to an end. Across the Clyde in Greenock, workers were also out of a job as their store too shut its doors.

On Monday 29th December Woolworths closes its stores in three more Argyll towns – Campbeltown, Oban and Rothesay. Among the last to close on 5th January 2009 is the store in Helensburgh.

In a county with a population not much above 90,000, with pensioners the biggest single percentage and with a small working population, the impact of these job loses in its five biggest towns will hit Argyll hard.

Staff will be kept on for a few days to clear up following store closures. They will also be entitled to compensation under the statutory redundancy payment scheme.

Administrators, Deloittes, say that it is not yet clear how much of Woolworth’s debt will be paid but is unequivocal in asying that it is ‘clear that the creditors and suppliers will not get paid in full’.