According to Companies House, the company has entered into an insolvency procedure
The JTF Discount Warehouse in Barrow looks set to close after the company collapsed. It is listed as being temporarily closed but it and all 11 others across the country are reported to not be reopening, with staff being made redundant.
The company said around 30 workers were employed at the Ashburner Way store and now make up around 500 JTF employees made redundant.
According to Companies House, the company has entered into an insolvency procedure called a corporate voluntary arrangement.
A Spokesman for JTF Mega Discount Warehouses said: JTF Mega Discount Warehouses has issued a notice of intention to appoint an administrator, protecting the business for 14 days while it endeavours to secure a buyer.
The difficult decision comes after months of funding discussions and lobbying with local and national Government to save the 40-year-old British retailer and protect the 500 people employed across its stores, warehouses and Head Office, he said.
JTF was rescued from going into administration by its current owner in early January 2020. New leadership took immediate steps to drastically reduce the business’s overheads by nearly £2.5m per annum and tackle £7m of debt which was successfully achieved, returning the business to profitability and achieving £1m net profit in four months, the spokesman said.
The impact of the global pandemic which followed presented unforeseen and significant challenges for the retailer, he said. The management team fought hard to secure the funding needed to survive the pandemic, securing support from many MPs, lobbying the Government and exploring a great deal of funding options to no avail.
A law firm is investigating whether staff have a claim against the business on the basis they were made redundant without a consultation process.
A spokeswoman for Simpson Millar said the firm had been contacted by a handful of staff and was in the early stages of investigations to enable appropriate legal action to be brought to secure what is known as a protective award on their behalf for the company’s failure to properly consult staff regarding the mass redundancies.