Three NI Jessops stores to shut

THREE Jessops stores in Northern Ireland will close their doors on Friday for the last time with the loss of 30 jobs.

Administrators PriceWaterhouseCoopers(PWC) announced on Friday that all 187 Jessops UK-wide stores are closing with the loss of around 1,400 jobs.

The grim news for the Northern Ireland economy means 30 workers will join the dole queue from next Monday.

The camera business hit the financial buffers on Wednesday.

The troubled High Street retailer went into administration, with PwC appointed as the administrator.

In recent years, Jessops has been hit by increasing competition from supermarkets and internet retailers.

Jessops, which was founded in Leicester in 1935, has 192stores in the UK and employs about 2,000 staff.

The three Jessops stores to close in Northern Ireland are – in High Street, Belfast, Newry and Derry/Londonderry.

The administrators said that it was “inevitable” that some stores would have to close.

PwC said that while Jessops was a well-known brand with a strong reputation for service, its core marketplace had seen a significant decline in 2012, which was forecast to continue in 2013.

Despite additional funding being made available, Jessops had not generated the profits it had planned, PwC added.

In 2009, Jessops managed to avoid administration by agreeing a debt for equity swap with its lender HSBC.

Jessops becomes the first High Street casualty of 2013, following a raft of firms falling into administration in 2012 including Comet, Clinton Cards, JJB Sports and Game Group.