Two Peacocks stores close, almost 30 jobs lost

Both the Cookstown and Magherafelt stores were closed with immediate effect last week after a buyover of the company by Edinburgh Woollen Mill.

While around 6,000 jobs were saved, there were 3,100 redundancies after 224 stores across the UK were closed, including the Orritor Road and Market Street shops.

There were 17 staff in the Cookstown store and 11 in the Magherafelt outlet. Speaking to the Mail in January when the Peacocks Group went into administration, staff said they had known nothing of the financial difficulties of the Peacocks Group until they heard and read about them that week.

Chris Laverty, joint administrator and restructuring partner at KPMG, said, “Like many other retailers, Peacocks suffered from a decline in consumer spending due to the tough economic conditions and this, combined with a surplus of stores and unsustainable capital structure led to the business becoming financially unviable.

“However, a strong brand presence and loyal customer following meant that Peacocks attracted a great deal of interest from both trade and private equity bidders, leading to the successful sale. I would take this opportunity to thank the management team and staff for their continued assistance in very difficult circumstances; their support has been invaluable in securing this sale.”

Brian Jordan, President of Cookstown’s Chamber of Trade said the loss of local employment is regrettable, but added that there are still plenty of reasons to visit Cookstown.

“It is of course regrettable that any business closes in the present climate but we would hope that vacant space can be filled soon as it is in a prime location.

“While town centres across Northern Ireland are struggling at the minute, Cookstown is doing extremely well. We are a vibrant town and have a wide variety of shops to attract customers into the area. People are still interested in coming here and businesses are still interested in opening up new premises - long may that continue.”