ScS to close House of Fraser concessions nationwide

The firm made the announcement in a trading statement issued today, covering the 12 weeks to October 20.

It says overall like-for-like orders grew in the last three months - but its House of Fraser concessions saw like-for-like orders decline by 52.5%.in the same period.

House of Fraser went into administration earlier this year and has since been bought out by Sports Direct and Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley.

Today's news comes as Debenhams announces it is to close up to 50 stores nationwide.ScS says that it will cease trading from its 27 concessions within House of Fraser by the end of January.

The House of Fraser concession business accounted for just 2.7% of the Group’s order intake for the 12 weeks covered by today's announcement.

The firm said: "We are working with affected employees, and looking to re-deploy them and their valuable skills and experience within the wider ScS Group business, where possible."

ScS chief executive David Knight commented: "I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our colleagues who have worked in our House of Fraser concessions over the past few years for their dedication and hard work.

"However, given developments in House of Fraser over the last few months, it has become clear that the partnership was no longer beneficial to ScS.

"We are pleased to announce that we have continued to trade well in the core ScS business in the first 12 weeks of our financial year.

"We will continue to focus on our successful value offering proposition, coupling this with the excellent service that ScS provides and that our customers know and love."

ScS released its preliminary results for the year to the end of July earlier this month.The company says its core business has continued to perform well in the last quarter, with like-for-like order intake growth of 4.5%. Two year like-for-like order intake has grown 7.4%.

While t is still early in the current financial year, the Group, as a whole, continues to trade in line with expectations.