Fresh from the news that British retailer Woolworth is closing its doors after being in business for decades, Marks & Spencer is following suit with news of cutting some 1,000 jobs and closing down 27 stores in the UK. It is indeed a bad year for all those who have lost their jobs this way.
Marks & Spencer stores in the UK are just any other clothing, personal care and food chainstores, in Malaysia they are considered a premium brand (I can’t explain the high prices we have to pay for the products here!). I wonder if there are thoughts on closing down Marks & Spencer here.
Will there be more British retailers closing down in the next few months or years to come? It’s anybody’s guess. At the moment, stores like Debenhams and big supermarkets like Tesco and Asda are reported to be still doing alright.
The effects of the financial global crisis is slowly but surely being felt by those who now do not have their jobs anymore. And I’m quite sure all around the world there will be more headcount cuts in companies big and small.
On the domestic front, we have quite a few British fashion stores in our malls, namely Debenhams (now at The Curve), Tesco hypermarkets, Top Shop, Principles, Dorothy Perkins, Warehouse, etc. I wonder what will happen to these stores if their parent stores were to close down in the UK too.
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2009 will not just be a difficult year for UK retailers. In fact, many of the retail companies had to further slash their year end sales just to attract customer spending, which has been bearish of late. Watch for the automotive and manufacturing industries- more news to come from those sectors definitely.
Guys in the corporate restructuring and recovery sector will have plenty of work coming their way soon, after several years of lying low with not much work on their hands.
You always hope that whatever industry you’re in, whatever company you’re working for, doesn’t let you go. When push comes to shove, either the newest guys or the top guys go first. worry if you’re one or the other.
I agree with you, Adrian. No one is quite steady in their jobs. It doesn’t look like a good time to be job hopping too since that will put someone in the risk of being last in first out. But if a good opportunity comes along, I think I will be quite in a fix.