On Monday, Asos confirmed it had sealed the takeover of Topshop and three other brands from the collapse of the Arcadia retail empire for £265 million.
Asos told investors on Monday morning that it will take on around 300 employees as part of the deal, which will not include any of the brands’ stores.
Thousands of Topshop store staff were only officially informed that their jobs were likely to go two hours after Asos announced the takeover.
The takeover was announced at 7am with a tweet from Asos welcoming Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge fans to “the Asos family”.
The rumours are true... @Topshop & @Topman are now part of the ASOS family 💛
— ASOS (@ASOS) February 1, 2021
The PA news agency report it took Deloitte until 9am to inform around 2,500 staff at 70 remaining Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge stores that they would not be part of the acquisition.
Following the news, angry workers flooded social media complaining that they found out the online giant would not be buying stores – and saving their jobs – via Twitter and through media reports.
One twitter user, @lisaa_Mchendry said in response to a tweet from Asos welcoming Topshop and Topman as “part of the Asos family”: “We’re not part of “your family”… we’ve all lost our jobs and been made redundant.
“All stores are closing, we closed ours this week. Spare a thought for all of us staff, especially those who have just found out they are jobless through the media and your tweet. Not good enough.”
Scarlet Rawson tweeted: “Thank you for telling me I lost my job before my employer even got round to doing it, could you not have waited at least 1 day before announcing that you have bought out thousands of jobs from people…especially in a time like this!”
Bosses at Boohoo have said the online fashion brand is negotiating with administrators of Arcadia over the future of the Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton brands, with Debenhams facing a similar fate having closed six flagship stores last month including the Oxford Street store.
Now, budget supermarket chain Aldi has offered a helping hand to those affected by the high street retail collapse.
The supermarket is creating 4,000 jobs across the UK and has urged those facing job losses to apply.
On twitter they released an image that said: “We’re here for you.
“Aldi is welcoming applicants from Arcadia and Debenhams staff, as we create 4,000 jobs across the UK in 2021.”
If you think this may give someone you know a helping hand, let them know below https://t.co/z0eB11bY4n pic.twitter.com/NKO9zzzNny
— Aldi Stores UK (@AldiUK) February 1, 2021
Despite the ongoing pandemic Aldi, along with other essential retailers has remained open for business and announced record sales during the Christmas period.
The retailer revealed that sales rose by 10.6% in the four weeks to December 24, compared with the same period last year.
Aldi said it was boosted by increased demand for premium products and online, highlighting a 75% sales increase for its online wine and Specialbuy businesses.
As a result of such positive sales the German-owned retailer announced a new year pay rise for its 30,000 store staff.
Aldi said it will increase its national minimum hourly pay rate for store employees to £9.55 from February 1, from £9.40.
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