Hopes that Dunfermline’s Homebase store would be saved by the company’s new billionaire owner have been dashed.
The store is located at Halbeath Retail Park and employs over a dozen people. Now potential investors have just one week to step in and secure its future.
The company suffered a loss of £84.2 million last year, and on November 13 staff at the company Teneo Financial Advisory Limited were appointed as administrators.
The news of administration put 130 stores at risk of closure, however the brand was immediately sold to the owner of the Range homeware outlets Chris Dawson.
Mr Dawson has purchased “up to 70 stores” which could save up to 1600 jobs, however at the date of entering administration, Homebase employed 3,600 staff across its Head Office and stores.
It’s now been revealed that Dunfermline’s store is not on the list of stores that have been purchased, and administrators have set a deadline of the end of next week for potential buyers to purchase it.
It’s one of 74 leasehold Homebase stores that have been put on the market, all of which must be sold by November 29 to secure more funds for creditors.
Reports say that the banking company Wells Fargo declined to extend the group’s lending facility due to concerns about its finances.
It comes shortly after the company announced that its Glenrothes store is marked to close before the end of 2024.
Homebase was previously owned by the company Hilco Capital, who purchased it from Westfarmers for a single pound in 2018. The company closed 106 stores in the years following the takeover.
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