We’re relieved to be able to share the news that Toys ‘R’ Us here in the UK has been saved, along with thousands of jobs. After three days of intensive talks the retailer agreed to inject more than £9m into their Pension Protection Fund, and their creditors backed the insolvency plan – phew!
Thousands of jobs at Toys R Us have been saved after the ailing toy retailer agreed to pump more than £9m into its pension plan over the next two years in a last-minute deal with the state-backed pensions lifeboat.
The Pension Protection Fund joined landlords and other creditors in backing Toys R Us’s company voluntary arrangement (CVA) plan, which involves the closure of at least 26 loss-making stores from next spring as well as reducing the size of others. Consultations with affected employees will commence in the new year.
About 98% of creditors are understood to have approved the deal, without which the company was likely to have fallen into administration.
While up to 800 people could still lose their job as a result of the restructure, more than 2,000 more will be saved as Toys R Us tries to turn its remaining UK business around.
Steve Knights, managing director of Toys R Us UK, said: “We are pleased to have secured the support of our creditors and will be working closely with them in the months ahead. The vote in favour of the CVA represents strong support for our business plan and provides us with the platform we need to transform our business so that we can better serve our customers today and long into the future.
“All of our stores across the UK will remain open for business as normal until spring 2018. Customers can continue to shop online and there will be no changes to our returns policies or gift cards across this period.”
Read the full article here.
