ANGRY workers at Helensburgh’s Waitrose supermarket have shared their fury with the Advertiser after learning that the store will close later this year.

Employees were told of the closure at a mass meeting at a hotel on Loch Lomondside on Wednesday, March 4 – though the John Lewis Partnership, Waitrose’s parent company, did not officially confirm the news until the following day.

The store will close permanently at the end of business on Sunday, May 3.

One employee at the Cardross Road store, who asked not to be named, told the Advertiser: “Everybody is raging. The rumours have been going on for two or three years, so it’s not a complete surprise, but the way it happened has been a shock.

“They have said the shop is not making enough money.

“A lot of the girls there who are older are really worried as they are still four or five years away from getting their pension and it’s difficult to get other jobs now, especially with so many zero-hour contracts going about.”

READ MORE: Staff told Helensburgh's Waitrose store will close in May

The employee said that staff who stay on until after April 23 will receive redundancy packages.

“They are basically tying our hands, because we can’t get another job before then or we will lose our redundancy packages,” they added.

“They have still been employing people: two new managers came in recently and they were advertising for other assistants in January.

“This has obviously not happened overnight.

“The shop could make money but nobody cares about it.

“Nobody has gone in there and put their heart into it.”

READ MORE: Official confirmation from Waitrose of Helensburgh store's closure with loss of 123 jobs

Although a new retailer is believed to be taking over the site, it’s understood they will not be opening until Christmas.

The company said 123 full-time and part-time roles would go when the shop shuts for the last time.

Another worker, who also asked to remain anonymous, told the Advertiser: “There’s a feeling it’s been on the cards for a while.

“The John Lewis Partnership prides itself on making its staff happy, and yet they’ve dropped this on people who were only taken on a few weeks ago.

“There’s no way they didn’t know this was on the cards when these new workers were employed.

“To recruit people in that way is totally reprehensible.

“I know someone whose mum was due to start at the store next week, and who has already left her previous job to go there.

READ MORE: Helensburgh 'reeling' from shock news of Waitrose closure

“I know the company has to consider commercial confidentiality, but to do that doesn’t sit well with me.

“Retail is retail – we all know it’s a competitive business, but that kind of approach is not on.

“It’s totally contradictory to the way the Partnership says it wants to do business.”

On Waitrose’s website the company says that “as part of an employee-owned business, all Partners have a say in how the business is run”.

In a statement on its 2019-20 financial performance, in which news of the Helensburgh closure was officially confirmed, the John Lewis Partnership said its "weaker performance than we had hoped for" – with profits down 23 per cent to £123 million – was the result of "significantly reduced profitability in John Lewis" and was "despite a solid performance in Waitrose".

Announcing the closure of three of its stores – in Helensburgh, Four Oaks in the West Midlands, and Waterlooville in Hampshire – Waitrose’s director of selling and service delivery, Simon Burdess, said that “the wellbeing and future of our partners in these shops” was its priority, and pledged to “do everything we can to support them and will explore opportunities for anyone wishing to remain with the Partnership.”

READ MORE: Take a look back at our coverage of the day Waitrose opened in 2013

Responding to the concerns raised by staff with the Advertiser, a Waitrose spokeswoman said: “Our absolute priority is everyone who works at the store - we will fully support them throughout the process and we will identify opportunities for those wishing to remain with the business wherever possible.

“Support is available to them if needed on CV writing, job applications, using LinkedIn and interview practice. Partners can also access coaching and mentoring support and we will be working closely with local Job Centres.

“Out of respect for those partners who were unable to make Wednesday’s meeting we politely asked those in attendance not to share the news more widely just until we had called them.

“The recruitment for the shop is managed locally and was unfortunately carried out in January, before any agreement had been reached for the store. Our Helensburgh Partners were informed as soon as we were able.

“The announcement of the three closures this week adds to a number of shops we have had to close across the UK in recent years, including 12 we closed last year.

“All of these shops were not commercially sustainable for us and is reflective of the challenges facing our business and many high street retailers at present.

“Despite the best efforts of everyone involved, there are shops, like Helensburgh, that are just not viable, and we must take difficult decisions like this that, while regrettable, are needed for the business as a whole and our future.”

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