'A sad day for retail': Debenhams workers respond to Boohoo's takeover 

Workers in Leicester factories also reported working throughout the pandemic despite government guidelines and high Covid transmission in the area.

Valerie Conlon and former staff members take part in a socially-distanced protest outside Debenhams on St Patrick's Street, Cork. Picture:  Dan Linehan

“A sad day for retail” is how former Debenhams staff described the company's takeover by online fashion retailer Boohoo.

Former Debenhams worker and Mandate shop steward Valerie Conlon said that some 12,000 UK workers may now face what Debenhams’ Irish staff did last year — waking up in the morning to find that their job was gone.