The beleaguered retail chain has announced the closure of a further seventeen branches across the United Kingdom.
After falling into administration last month, the former Staples brand announced earlier in April that sixteen branches will be closing, with the loss of 171 jobs.
Now, according to Insider Media, a further seventeen branches have been earmarked for closure, with almost 170 more jobs set to be lost.
Nine stores will close their doors for the last time on April 16, in Birkenhead, Blackpool, Chelmsford, Hayes, Hull, Reading, Swindon, Teesside, and Telford, with 89 redundancies.
On April 23, another eight branches will shut, in Altrincham, Cambridge, Harlow, Huddersfield, Newport, Torquay, Truro, and Warrington, with a further 78 jobs lost.
A further 106 jobs were cut at the company’s head office and distribution centre in Daventry on March 26.
“A buyer has yet to come forward for the business in part or in whole and we cannot continue trading all the stores indefinitely in an administration process,” said the company’s joint administrator, Richard Hawes. “Therefore we are announcing a further round of store closures that will be completed over the next three weeks, also resulting in a number of redundancies.”
“We are keeping staff informed of developments as they happen in what is a difficult time for them,” Hawes added.
When Hawes and Daniel Butters, of business services firm Deloitte, were appointed as administrators on March 18, Office Outlet boasted more than ninety branches nationwide, with around 1,200 employees.
