EMPLOYEES at a Huddersfield clothes store have been told their jobs are safe.

The new owners of womenswear chain Bon Marché have confirmed that the store in New Street will remain open, safeguarding the jobs of nine staff.

The store is one of 230 Bon Marché stores UK-wide to remain open under new owners Sun European Partners.

However, the private equity firm intends to close 160 stores with the loss of 1,400 jobs. After that process is complete, Sun will continue to employ 2,400 staff.

Huddersfield store manager Julie Fox said: “Staff are thrilled at the news that we are to remain open.

“We would like to extend a special thanks to all customers for their support and messages of encouragement over the last few weeks.”

Sun, which also owns the Alexon and Jacques Vert brands, bought Bon Marché, which was part of the collapsed Peacocks Group, out of administration.

At the time of the January takeover Sun hailed the acquisition as “a positive step forward in underscoring Bon Marché’s future”.

In addition to the shops, Sun has also acquired Bon Marché’s headquarters and distribution centre at Grange Moor, which employs about 200 people.

Meanwhile, thousands of workers at Peacocks face further uncertainty after it was reported that only one company remains in the race to salvage the firm.

Cardiff-based Peacocks, which has 563 stores and 48 concessions – including ones at the Piazza Centre in Huddersfield and in Brighouse and Dewsbury – collapsed under a debt mountain last month in the biggest retail failure since Woolworths, placing 7,500 jobs in jeopardy.

Indian textile and clothing giant S Kumars Nationwide (SKNL) is understood to be the only remaining suitor for the business after interest from bid rivals Edinburgh Woollen Mill and Pakistani clothing giant Alshair Fiyaz faded.

A spokesman for administrator KPMG, which was expected to reveal a final shortlist of three bidders this week, declined to comment.

KPMG held more than 100 conversations with potential buyers for the Peacocks chain in the 48 hours after it collapsed.

But the “huge interest” appears to have dwindled and SKNL has emerged as the frontrunner to save the business.

SKNL, which turned over £667m last year, bought Hartmarx Corporation, an occasional tailor to President Barack Obama, in partnership with British investment firm Emerisque Brands.

Elsewhere, it has been reported that retailers including Poundland and Tesco are eyeing up parts of the store portfolio in the event a buyer for all or part of the struggling chain is not found.

KPMG has already announced 249 redundancies from the Peacocks head office in Cardiff.

Peacocks reported strong trading over the Christmas period, with like-for-like sales up by 17%.

But the company, owned by hedge funds Och-Ziff and Perry Capital, has seen its profit margins come under pressure from the frenzy of discounts on the high street being offered by retailers desperate to drum up trade. The retailer was also weighed down by £750m of borrowings.