Three Homebase stores in Ireland to close costing dozens of jobs

(PA Wire)

John Mulligan

Three Homebase stores in Ireland are among those earmarked for closure as part of a cull by the retailer’s owner, Hilco Capital.

Two stores in Dublin – at Fonthill and at Naas Road – will close, as well as an outlet in Limerick. The closures are certain to hit dozens of jobs.

It has a total of 11 outlets in Ireland that employ a 380 full and part-time staff.

Homebase confirmed today that it’s closing a total of 42 stores as part of a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) where it’s seeking approval from creditors to reduce its cost base in the UK and Ireland. The stores are set to close between the end of this year and early 2019.

Homebase was ditched this year by its then Australian owner Wesfarmers, which had acquired the chain in 2016 for £340m (€380.6m). The disastrous move into the UK market by Wesfarmers saw it sell the chain for just £1 to Hilco Capital.

Homebase was making a profit when it was acquired by Wesfarmers, but isn't now.

“After a comprehensive review, Homebase has concluded that its current store portfolio mix is no longer viable,” the chain said in a statement. “Rental costs associated with stores are unsustainable and many stores are loss making.”

It added: “The proposed changes to the store portfolio will regrettably mean redundancies from those stores earmarked for closure. The process is expected to lead to a reduction of up to 1,500 roles, although every effort will be made to redeploy team members within the business where possible.”

“The CVA enables Homebase to make essential changes to its store portfolio, reducing its cost base and providing a stable platform on which to continue its turnaround,” it said.