Last day for staff at Comet in Shrewsbury
Shropshire's last Comet store was due to close for the final time today, as the retail giant axes its remaining 50 branches.
The Shrewsbury store, on Meole Brace Retail Park, was removing the 'closing down sale' signs today as administrators Deloitte confirmed its doors were closing with the loss of up to 30 jobs.
The remaining 48 Comet stores nationwide were also closing today, including sites in Solihull, Chester, Coventry, Derby and Leicester. The firm employed around 6,895 workers at the time of its collapse and it is now one of the biggest high street failures since the demise of Woolworths in 2008.
On December 9, the Telford Comet store closed on Bridge Retail Park with 16 workers being made redundant.
About 3,500 of the group's original 6,600 staff have already gone since Deloitte was appointed in November, with nearly 3,000 more employees now poised to join them on the dole. Workers at the Shrewsbury store said it would be like 'losing a family member' earlier this month after revealing the true extent of devastation the company's collapse is likely to bring.
Deloitte has failed to find a suitable buyer for the collapsed electrical chain. It comes as the collapse of Comet was set to leave the taxpayer with a bill for £50 million.
The report from Deloitte shows insufficient funds have been raised from the winding down of the chain to pay up to £24 million in redundancy payments to 6,000 staff. It also reveals unsecured creditors such as HM Revenue & Customs, which is owed £26.1 million, will receive nothing.
