More jobs under threat in Huddersfield as Clinton Cards slides into administration

UNCERTAINTY surrounds the future of three more Huddersfield town centre stores.

And there are fears over local jobs after retailer Clinton Cards was forced into administration.

More than 8,000 jobs are now in jeopardy across its UK chain after the greetings card business became the latest casualty of the high street spending slump.

The group, which is the UK’s biggest specialist cards retailer and operates 628 Clintons and 139 Birthdays stores, fell into administration after failing to find a buyer for all or parts of the business.

Administrators at Zolfo Cooper said the group had made losses of £130m since 2004.

It said it was “likely that a number of stores would need to be closed to make the business financially viable”.

The group employs dozens of staff at its Clinton-branded stores in New Street and the Kingsgate Centre in Huddersfield and in Brighouse and at its Birthdays outlet at the Piazza Shopping Centre in Huddersfield

Phone calls to the New Street branch were not being answered yesterday.

An employee at the Kingsgate store said he was unable to comment.

Zolfo said it will continue to trade the business as a going concern and remained confident it will be attractive to potential buyers.

Clinton’s plight was sealed after its banks – Barclays and taxpayer-backed Royal Bank of Scotland – sold the company’s £35m of loans to its biggest supplier.

But whereas the banks waived certain conditions, American Greetings told the company it planned to enforce the loan, pushing the company into an administration process.

Trading in Clinton’s shares was suspended on the stock market yesterday.

The collapse is another blow to the high street after recent high-profile casualties, including video games retailer Game Group, fashion chain Peacocks and outdoor specialist Blacks Leisure.

The group is the UK’s largest specialist retailer of greetings cards and was founded by current chairman Don Lewin in Epping, Essex, in 1968.

Peter Saville, joint-administrator at Zolfo, said the company suffered “extremely challenging” conditions, particularly at Birthdays, but added that there was a strong underlying business.

He said: “Despite evaluating ways to restructure the business, Clinton’s was unfortunately unable to secure adequate support or funding for its restructuring plans.

“The challenging business environment, and in particular the increased competition for greetings cards and related products, meant that the group required radical restructuring and administration was the last remaining option available.”