Following a High Court ruling the Irish branch of New Look has entered liquidation and 26 stores will close over the coming weeks with the loss of 350 jobs.
Provisional liquidators have taken over the Irish operations who will oversee the sales of remaining stock.
The Irish Labour Party has called for hundreds of affected workers to be supported and has urged the retailer to acknowledge the “human impact.”
George Lawlor, the party’s enterprise spokesman, said, “New Look Retailers Ireland Ltd must recognise the human impact of this decision and immediately engage with workers in a meaningful and constructive manner.
“Workers must be given clarity on redundancy terms or redeployment options. They cannot be left in limbo.”
The retailer said, “New Look has undergone several changes to adapt to the current market, including marketing initiatives, store adaptations, and price range trials. However, following a strategic review of our Irish business, New Look Group concluded that it was no longer viable to continue trading in Ireland.
“Given the increasingly volatile trading conditions, we needed to expedite our existing plans, which included a review of our operations in the Republic of Ireland.”
