Deloitte administrators make 735 redundancies at Comet HQ

DELOITTE ADMINISTRATORS have made 735 staff redundant at collapsed electrical retailer Comet.

Neville Kahn, Nick Edwards and Chris Farrington, all from Deloitte, were appointed joint administrators to the retailer, which is headquartered in Rickmansworth, on 5 November.

The joint administrators have announced that 735 redundancies are necessary in the company’s head office, and across its home delivery network. The administrators confirmed that 603 employees have been made redundant in the home delivery network; and 132 in its head office which includes 57 in Rickmansworth, 17 in Hull, and 56 in the call centre in Clevedon.

So far there have been no redundancies of staff working in the local stores, however it was announced earlier that up to 41 stores, with 869 full and part-time employees, are due to close before the end of November unless a buyer is found.

A dedicated employee helpline has been set up and an employee assistance programme to help staff made redundant find other jobs has been created.

Farrington said: “Discussions continue to take place with parties who have expressed interest in parts of the business. However, it is unfortunately necessary to begin a store closure programme and to scale back the company’s support functions. While we will continue to do all we can to preserve jobs, we are working hard to put in place comprehensive support to help those employees who are made redundant during the administration.

“This support includes connecting people to prospective employers who are keen to offer roles to ex-Comet staff, and providing assistance and workshops to help with job hunting skills, such as CV and cover letter writing and interview skills, to enhance their chances of securing new employment.”

Prior to its collapse Comet operated out of 236 stores and employed 6,611 full- and part-time staff, which is equivalent to 4,683 full-time staff.