Sadness as Peterborough retailer Beales set for closure

Exteriors of Beales store, Westgate which is holding a closing down sale

The store, which opened in Park Road, Westgate, nine years ago, will shut in about eight weeks’ time.

Prices on many goods in the store have been slashed and notices have gone up announcing a closing down sale.

It is not clear how many jobs will be lost in Peterborough with the store’s closure, which was announced by administrators KPMG.

It is estimated the store employs about 40 staff. The company has 1,300 staff in the UK.

Stores in Spalding and Wisbech are also among 12 of the Beales’ 23 stores nationally that have been earmarked for closure after the retailer went into administration four weeks ago.

The 139-year-old retailer, which has its head office in Bournemouth, collapsed after the failure by its management team to find a buyer.

Administrators said there is currently no intention to implement closure plans for the remaining 11 stores which will operate as usual for the time being.

The imminent closure of the Peterborough store has thrown the future use of the iconic Victorian building into uncertainty.

Beales took over the Westgate premises from the former Anglian Co-operative Society but it is understood that it currently leases the building.

Jeremy Roberts, a committee member of the Peterborough Civic Society, said: “The closure of Beales will be a sad day for many people.

“It is the second largest store in Peterborough and a great many Peterborough people have, and still, shop there.

“I think it will be a great loss to the city. I think it has been a victim of high business rates, rising pay levels and online shopping.

Mr Roberts added: “We are concerned about what happens to the building after the Beales closure.

“It was built in about 1880 and although it has been altered at ground floor level it is still a fine building.”

A spokeswoman for the administrators said: “Peterborough is a leasehold site, and so the joint administrators will be seeking advice from agents to determine any realisation strategy.”

She added: “There is, as yet, no date set for the store’s closure.”