Oasis and Warehouse stores closed ‘indefinitely’, 1,800 jobs lost
Over 1,800 employees at fashion retailers Oasis and Warehouse are set to be made redundant after administrators failed to find a new buyer for the retailers.
The fashion brands have now been sold to Hilco, a restructuring firm and former owner of HMV. Whilst Hilco agreed to buy the retailer’s stock, the deal does not include the 92 standalone sites or additional 400 concessions of Oasis and Warehouse stores across the UK.
According to Sky News, staff were informed of the decision on Thursday morning and told they would not receive statutory redundancy pay from the company.
Rob Harding, joint administrator at Deloitte, said: “Covid-19 has presented extraordinary challenges, which have devastated the retail industry. It is with great sadness that we have to announce a sale of the business has not been possible and that we are announcing so many redundancies today.”
He added: “This is a very difficult time for the group’s employees and other key stakeholders and we will do everything we can to support them through this.”
When the group first fell into administration on April 15, 202 jobs were made redundant immediately, with the remaining 1,800 staff placed on furlough.
A series of other retailers have also been forced into administration due to the pandemic, which include Cath Kidston, Laura Ashley and Debenhams.
