Staff key to restructuring, insists union

ARNOTTS WORKERS:ANY PLANS to restructure department store Arnotts must be made in collaboration with staff, workers' representatives have said.

Trade union Mandate made the call yesterday after it emerged that State-owned Anglo Irish Bank and Ulster Bank are set to take control of the historic store.

Established in 1843, Arnotts is the largest department store in the country, with a selling area of more than 27,000sq m.

It employs some 950 people and has been an anchor for other stores on Dublin’s Henry Street for over 150 years.

Arnotts Holdings Ltd is to come under the control of Anglo Irish and Ulster Bank because the banks had lent the company funds to purchase property in the locality and develop plans for a “Northern Quarter”, which have now been put on hold. It has debts of €300 million.

The banks will have to wait until next month for approval from the European Commission to take over the store, because Anglo Irish is State-owned.

John Douglas, general secretary of Mandate, which has over 900 members in the store, said the company’s difficulties were “a direct result of management erroneously deciding to enter the property industry”. They had nothing to do with staff or the operation of the retail business, he said.

The development of any plans to stabilise the business must include workers’ representatives, he said, and should take account of the fact that staff members have been a vital component in the success of the retail business.

Mr Douglas said the union had written to management seeking an urgent meeting. “We are seeking a meeting to clarify what the immediate future is for the business, and we are insistent that the best way forward for everyone concerned is to include the worker representatives in any future discussions,” he said.

In a statement issued yesterday, Arnotts Holdings Ltd moved to reassure staff. It said jobs at the company were secure and it would continue to invest in the business.

It was working with its banks as part of an ongoing process agreed last February to restructure the group’s financing, the statement said. “Arnotts is performing very strongly, with trading for the first half of the year ahead of the Irish retail market,” it said.

Local Labour Party TD Joe Costello said the store must not be sold at a bargain price: “Arnotts has been an integral part of the retail landscape in the capital since 1843, and it would be unthinkable if this development led to a situation where the future of the store itself was in question.”

He said a closure would be catastrophic. “It is the flagship retail outlet in the area. I fear that it could lay waste to the entire O’Connell Street, Henry Street, Jervis Street retail area, and could be a blow that could cause serious long-term damage,” he added.

“Anglo must now put in place a business plan that will first and foremost seek to secure the future of the department store, the jobs of those that work there and the jobs of people in surrounding businesses,” he said.