Closure of all 187 Jessops stores starts today, says administrator PwC

Jessops collapsed into administration on Wednesday, as revealed by Retail Week, putting 2,000 jobs at risk altogether.

PwC joint administrator and partner Rob Hunt said: “Since my appointment, we have reviewed the position of the business and held extensive discussions with suppliers around their support for ongoing trading.

“It is apparent that we cannot continue to trade and as a result we have had to make the difficult decision to begin the closure of all 187 Jessops stores at the close of business today.

“Regrettably, this will result in around 1,370 job losses across the stores with further job losses likely, in due course, at the head office in Leicester.

“The stock will be collected over the coming days and returned to a central warehouse.  It will be returned to suppliers if they are entitled to it. As a consequence of the closure, Jessops is no longer able to accept returned product from customers.

“This is an extremely sad day for Jessops and its employees. We are very grateful for the support we have received since our appointment and we will continue to ensure that employees are paid as they assist us during the closure.”

Jessops struggled to trade as consumers bought online or increasingly took pictures using their smartphones.

The retailer had been working on improving customer service, training staff on specialist product knowledge, as and refreshing stores with the new ‘live black’ layout which enabled customers to touch and interact with the products.

Jessops increased its focus online too, offering customers a service to create personalised gifts and accessories alongside its camera offer. Last year, it launched its Jessops academies in a handful of stores which offered photographic courses.

In 2012 it suffered the loss of both its boss Trevor Moore, who joined HMV as it chief executive last year, and chairman David Adams. The company did not appoint a replacement chief executive but hired Martyn Everett as chairman and promoted Neil Old to lead the business as chief operating officer.

In the year to December 31, 2012 Jessops generated turnover of £236m.