Possible job losses at Ethel Austin stores in Flintshire

Feb 8 2010 By Francesca Elliott

Ethel Austin logo

JOBS could be lost across Flintshire following the announcement clothing store Ethel Austin has gone into administration.

The company has four stores in the county, in Buckley, Flint, Shotton and Mold, and employs numerous people.

The chain says all stores will remain open and continue to trade as normal while a new buyer is sought, but that store closures and redundancies could not be ruled out.

The company has blamed the global economic crisis for the move, which it says ‘hit the retail sector particularly hard’, as well as poor trading conditions in January due to the bad weather, which severely restricted the company’s cash flow.

Ethel Austin was established 70 years ago and has 300 stores across the UK, employing 3,714 people.

Its sister company Au Naturale is also in administration.