Lifeline hope for Hughes & Hughes

BRITISH book retailers WH Smith and Easons are reported to be considering throwing a lifeline to Hughes & Hughes, the bookstore chain, which operates two outlets in Clare.

Hughes & Hughes currently has one store in Bank Place, Ennis and another at Shannon Airport. The bookstore chain announced that it went into receivership last Friday.
A spokesman for WH Smith indicated that it is considering a bid for the assets of Hughes & Hughes, while Easons are reported to also be considering a bid for some or all of Hughes & Hughes’ network of 13 stores nationwide.
Nationally, it has been reported that Hughes & Hughes receiver Deloitte will begin talks with potential trade buyers over the coming days. Until then, the future of over 20 jobs at the Ennis store are at risk.
In the wake of the Hughes & Hughes news, Deputy Pat Breen has called on the Government to set up a national think tank “where all job creation ideas could be fed to those with real potential and acted upon”.
Deputy Breen has also expressed his concern that Clare could be omitted as a priority to attract foreign direct investment into Ireland and has appealed to the Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mary Coughlan, to make sure that the county is not disadvantaged further when it comes to attracting new foreign direct investment projects to the region.
“Friday last was another black day for unemployment in this country and we were dealt a double blow here in County Clare with news that both Postbank and Hughes and Hughes were closing their doors.
“The news that Postbank is winding down its operation by the end of the year comes on top of the news two weeks’ ago that Halifax is closing its doors and it indicates the very difficult trading conditions that many of our financial institutions are now experiencing. Over 260 jobs are at risk.
“At the same time that Postbank were announcing their wind-down, the news that Hughes & Hughes book shop chain had gone into receivership came through.
“In the case of Hughes & Hughes, I hope that the units here in Clare could be given a lifeline. I hope that they will be taken over by another bookstore chain and that some, if not of all, of the jobs involved here could be saved,” Deputy Breen said.