400 jobs cut at Northern Electric
KPMG has axed more than 400 jobs at household appliance retailer Northern Electric, after the firm's appointment as administrator at the end of October.
Richard Fleming and Julian Whale of KPMG corporate recovery made the cuts within a week of becoming joint administrators to Shop Electric Group plc. It is the holding company for both Northern Retail Limited (trading as Northern Electric) and B2C Support Services, the warranty support company.
Fleming said: ‘Northern Electric and Shop Electric have suffered from competitive pressures and squeezed margins as the pre-Christmas seasonal upturn has failed to emerge.
‘Unfortunately, we’ve had no choice but to make 117 staff in the UK and 285 in Northern Ireland redundant.’
Fleming said KPMG was working to sell Northern Electric’s 35 stores in Northern Ireland and 25 on mainland Britain as going concerns. But plans for a number of reopenings for sales of remaining stock have so far led to just one, in North Shields.
Northern Retail Limited is not owned by power firm Northern Electric Plc.