172 retail jobs could go as centre owner ups the ante

ROCHES STORES’ 172 retail staff at a Cork shopping centre are looking increasingly certain to lose their jobs due to a battle between the centre owner and Marks & Spencer.

Wilton shopping centre owner Joe O’Donovan has given M&S until Friday evening to take up the lease on premises vacated by Roches Stores and he has said he wants €30 per square metre from the British retailer. While he has claimed he can be flexible while negotiating, Mr O’Donovan said last night: “I am a businessman with serious commitments. I have to be sensible.”

He also said M&S have refused to fully engage in negotiations. The British retailer, however, is adamant that it should only have to pay the lease which had been paid by Roches and which it said was significantly less than the demand of Mr O’Donovan.

Roches Stores yesterday told worker’s union Mandate that at 5.30pm on Friday, if no agreement is reached between Mr O’Donovan and M&S, they will make the 172 workers redundant. Some of those workers have been employed by Roches for more than 30 years.

The staff were due to be transferred to M&S along with the lease of Roches Stores’ 45,000 square foot premises this week. However, Mr O’Donovan scuppered that last Sunday because he said he wanted €30 per square foot from the British retailer.

Yesterday, M&S spokesman Neil Hyslop said the company had replied to a letter from Mr O’Donovan’s solicitors in which he gave them until Friday to agree to the lease or the property would be withdrawn.

In the M&S reply it asked Mr O’Donovan what rent he was now prepared to accept.

Mr O’Donovan last night said he had been contacted by a multitude of retailers willing to take on the plot. Penneys has been linked to the site and, while Mr O’Donovan would not confirm their involvement, he said he has found a large retailer who will pay €30 per square foot and take on the bulk of the Roches staff.

Mr Hyslop said the centre would be missing out on a very high-quality product if the deal with M&S does not go through. “We are prepared to re-fit the space and create a far more modern environment selling food and clothing,” he said.

Lorraine O’Brien of Mandate said they have not heard from any other retailer and, as far as they are concerned, no other party is involved.

If M&S and Mr O’Donovan fail to reach agreement by Friday, she said, the union’s intention is to seek a meeting with Roches first thing on Monday morning to start redundancy talks.

Roches has also told Mandate it will continue to pay workers until October 14.