Allders cuts 670 jobs

STRICKEN department store Allders has taken an axe to jobs and made 670 staff redundant.

The majority of jobs have been slashed from its network of 45 nationwide stores, with 209 jobs going from the head office.

The cuts are in addition to the 130 head office jobs that were culled at the beginning of the month.

Allders was placed in administration at the end of January after poor Christmas sales failed to lift the beleagured department store.

Job losses are being made across all stores, but the flagship Croydon branch has been hit the hardest with 76 jobs gone.

Administrator Kroll is attempting to sell 34 of the 45-strong chain to numerous bidders after failing to sell the business as a going concern.

Administrator Andrew Pepper said: 'Sales negotiations are progressing well and we are at an advanced stage and we hope that we can finalise the deals in short order and that these deals will lead to many of the employees in those stores being transferred to the new owners.'

Meanwhile, the fate of the company's pension scheme looks like it will continue to drag on. The administrator has agreed to make ongoing monthly contributions of £58,150 per month until June 2005.

The payment falls short of the funding the scheme needs to help it claw back an estimated £15m deficit.