Jane Lee
August 2, 2012
The Age
Almost 200 Darrell Lea staff will lose their jobs today as the troubled chocolate maker shuts about half of its stores.
The company’s administrators, PPB Advisory, announced today that 32 of the Australian company-owned shops will close today, which will leave their 198 casual, part-time and full-time staff out of work.
The remaining 34 Darrell Lea stores, a number of which are franchises, will keep operating.
The closures come three weeks after the family-owned confectioner announced it was going into voluntary administration, with PPB Advisory planning to sell the business as a going concern.
The move placed as many as 700 jobs at risk, although the company said at the time its 69 company-owned and franchised stores in Australia, New Zealand and the United States would continue trading as normal for now.
The administrators are expected to outline which stores will close and potential bidders for the remaining operation after 2pm, AEST, today.
Darrell Lea has been controlled by the Lea family since founder Harry Lea began making sweets in 1917. He opened his first shop in New South Wales ten years later.
Offers advanced
PPB Advisory partner Mark Robinson said the firm had since received a number of offers for Darrell Lea, and was “advancing some parties to the next stage of the sales process.”
“While (the closures are) a very unfortunate development, our objective at this time is to make Darrell Lea more attractive to potential purchasers, and help protect the interests of the remaining 480 employees,” he said. “These store closures are an important step in achieving this.”
“Also, these developments are in line with restructuring initiatives that Darrell Lea was considering prior to PPB Advisory’s appointment.”
Mr Robinson said the manufacturing and warehouse arms of the business would continue to operate as normal
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