A NEW lease
agreement at the Blanchardstown Centre will protect almost 100 retail jobs
according to Mandate Trade Union.
Mandate said a
15-year lease agreed between Arcadia Group and Green Properties will secure the
jobs threatened at outlets including Top Shop, Top Man, Wallis, Miss Selfridge,
Dorothy Perkins and Burtons.
“Last April, the
Arcadia Group informed its staff of its intention to close its seven outlets in
the Blanchardstown Centre,
? said Mandate’s Brendan O’Hanlon.
“Negotiations
then took place between Mandate and Arcadia and the issue regarding options for
the 104 staff affected were referred to the Labour Relations Commission (LRC).
“In July, Arcadia advised Mandate – during an
LRC hearing – that agreement had been reached with Green Properties and that
only the Evans store would be closing with 14 staff affected.
“Following local
negotiations in August, proposals regarding options for the staff affected were
unanimously accepted and they included redeployment on current terms and
conditions or voluntary redundancy of five weeks pay, including statutory
redundancy.
“While the Evans
store sadly closed last Saturday, (September 17), we’re very pleased that the
Arcadia Group has confirmed that a new 15-year lease had been agreed with Green
Properties Limited.
“This is good
news for the almost 100 workers concerned, their families and communities, as
well as for the Blanchardstown Centre.
?