Haldanes Supermarkets

Owain_Moneysaver

It's on the BBC News.

Hundreds of jobs go at Haldanes

The group has 26 shops in the UK, 13 of them in Scotland and it employs 600 people.

It is understood four stores may be sold off and the remaining will close on 14 June.

thatguy1

Haldanes calls in administrators
Hundreds of jobs are likely to be lost after Haldanes, the supermarket chain, was forced to call in the administrators.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/8566909/Haldanes-calls-in-administrators.html

Sadler2011

Popped into Kelso Haldanes today and they were reducing stock by 25% ,steady flow of customers, think mainly to find out whats happening.
Local Co op and Lidl were heaving , not surprised, will have to wait till late Summer for Sainsburys to be built. Section Leaders jobs are now advertised at the Sainsburys online website for this new store.:j

The stores which hopefully will be acquired at this stage are Tattershall in Lincs, Wigton in Cumbria, Crieff in Perth and Trannant in East Lothian.
Hope these are just the start

There are very good articles on Graham Soults Website , not much consilatation to those facing unemployment. Makes one think why the OFT said yes to a new business with so many shops and employees involved. It must have know that they would not be able to compete in this ruthless retail environment.

antrobus

Sadler2011 wrote: »

.... Makes one think why the OFT said yes to a new business with so many shops and employees involved. It must have know that they would not be able to compete in this ruthless retail environment.

Standard operating practice in supermarket acquisitions is for the OFT to require the purchaser to sell off a certain number of stores to third parties who have the resources and expertise, etc to maintain and operate said stores as a viable business. Or something along those lines. But it's the purchaser (in this case the Co-Op) which gives the undertaking to the OFT that these conditions are met.

So the statement might well be better expressed along the lines of 'Makes one think why the Co-Op said yes to a new business with so many shops and employees involved', particularly when it was their blinkin' employees in the first place.

Sadler2011

The Co op wanted to sell it yes but Mr Harris must have been aware he could not compete with the big retail groups, he did not have the buying power.
Its the staff, customers, and suppliers who have lost out here. I sincerely hope there will be a buyer for these shops. The whole situation is infuriating.

z1985m

i don't think arthur harris really cared! if you look at his buisness past it is very dodgy! anyway, tomorrow is when the administrators are due to come in. i know the store managers have had a hell of a time trying to get any information so far! the statement they sent out to tell us we were losing our jobs wasn't even signed! we didn't even know who the statement was from!

antrobus

Sadler2011 wrote: »

The Co op wanted to sell it yes but Mr Harris must have been aware he could not compete with the big retail groups, he did not have the buying power...

Well yes maybe, so long as you appreciate that it has nothing to do with the OFT.

Sadler2011

The whole situation is so sad for the staff. I called into Kelso shop this morning and think there is roughly just over 10% of stock left, that is being reduced by 25% in price.. Quite a few people were going in for milk but of course no new deliveries, just selling off what remains. Since I have used this supermarket over the last 10 years I hope a buyer is found, especially for the elderly people and those without transport who used the home delivery service , a lifeline to them.

Sadler2011

Just a short response to wish all Haldanes staff Good Luck and a Thank You for the service provided.
Was chatting to one of the chaps in Kelso branch yesterday, not a word from Head Office, not that anyone expected anything after what happened.
I am hope the Coop goes back into the Kelso shop, suppose if they still own the lease on some of the stores they will have some input as to who takes over what store, they must have written some clause into these agreements .
Good luck to one and all.

Chilisauce

I've just been into our local Haldanes and it wasn't advertised anywhere but everything in the shop is half price. It's been nearly stripped clean. I think the staff were even flogging the fags half price.
Good luck to all who are being affected by the closures. I hope you all find new jobs soon.