Today it was announced that almost 60 workers at Comet’s Aylesbury-based home delivery network hub in Gatehouse Way will lose their jobs, as part of a move to cut 603 jobs across its 12 hubs.
Meanwhile Aylesbury’s Comet store is set to close by the end of this month, administrators have also confirmed.
Across the country 41 of the crisis-hit electrical retailer’s 236 stores are set to cease trading – but only 27 of the stores have so far been named.
Workers at the Aylesbury branch, in the town’s retail park off Cambridge Street, have been told they will lose their positions unless a buyer can be found for the business.
The names of another 14 under-threat stores will be announced early this week.
Administrators says the 12 home delivery hubs, including the Aylesbury site, will ‘continue to operate, although with a significantly reduced workforce at each of the 12 locations, in order to complete deliveries and continue to support the repairs operation’.
Today the administrators announced a total of 735 further redundancies in the company’s head office, central functions and home delivery network.
The job cuts are in addition to the 330 redundancies already announced.
The business had employed over 6,000 people.
A dedicated helpline is in place for all employees and the company is running an employee assistance programme to help those staff made redundant find other jobs.
As part of the programme the company has established relationships with more than 35 prospective employers who it says are ‘keen to offer roles to ex-Comet employees’.
So far, there have been no redundancies at Comet’s stores and administrator Deloitte say ‘more generous discounts will be applied to products across all Comet stores from tomorrow’ (Tuesday, November 20).
On November 8 the retailer started a massive sale at its Aylesbury branch, which resulted in large queues as shoppers hunted for a bargain.
Today, joint administrator Chris 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.
“We are very grateful to the company’s employees for their professionalism, loyalty and support at this difficult time and employees will of course continue to be paid for all the work they do while the company is in administration.”