Partner Article

8,000 jobs at risk at Clinton Cards

The UK’s largest specialist card retailer Clinton Cards has suspended its share trading, amid fears that the firm is set to go into administration.

The firm, which operates 628 Clintons stores and 139 Birthdays outlets, has sold debts of £35 million to American Greetings, a US greeting card and e-card retailer based in Cleveland, Ohio.

It was hoped that this will see American Greetings offer their support to the ailing firm, along with the extension of a temporary waiver of “technical breaches” of its loan agreement with its banks. However, American Greetings have confirmed that they are going to enforce the loan.

Clinton Cards was it was unable to repay the loans and so had “no option but to concur with American Greetings proposal to place the company and its subsidiaries into administration.”

The retailer, which was founded in 1968, employs more than 8,000 staff across the UK. In March, Clinton reported a loss of £3.7 million for the 6 months to the end of January, and announced the outlook for 2012 was worse than previously anticipated.

Clinton has been restructuring its business to try and turn around its fortunes, including closing a number of Clinton and Birthdays-branded UK stores.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .