Department store chain BHS said it will make more than 350 people redundant and may close dozens of stores in a step to revive its ailing business.
The under-pressure retailer is cutting 150 staff from its head office and 220 from its shops, while more jobs could be lost if it decides to roll out store closures.
It comes after BHS warned that dozens of its stores could be shut unless landlords slash the rents on more than half its UK shops.
The fashion and homewares retailer - which has 164 shops - has pinpointed 47 stores which could continue to trade if monthly rents were cut by 50% or 75%.
Read more: Minister to meet Greggs bosses over bakery closure plan
It said another 40 stores may close after 10 months unless landlords agree to cut the rents "substantially".
However, the retailer said it would pay the rent at the current rate at 77 of its "most viable" stores, but would now make monthly rather than quarterly payments for the next three years.
The move to drive down the costs of its rental bill is part of proposals outlined in a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), as its owners attempt to restructure the loss-making chain.
Struggling companies try to agree a CVA with creditors in order to turn their business around while paying off debts. Creditors will vote on BHS' CVA on March 23.
Will Wright, restructuring partner at KPMG and proposed "supervisor" of the CVA, said: "For almost 90 years, BHS has been one of the most iconic brands on the UK high street, but in recent years has seen its profitability decline as it has sought to respond to changing customer behaviours, increased competition and the rise in omni-channel retailing."
He added: "The CVA proposals are one facet of a wider turnaround plan, and specifically tackle one of the business' largest fixed costs, the onerous lease arrangements across its UK-wide store portfolio."
The retailer said it hoped to keep store closures to a minimum.
BHS was sold by billionaire retail tycoon Sir Philip Green for £1 to Retail Acquisitions in March last year, as losses widened to £21 million in 2013-14, up from £19.3 million the year before.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel