Peterborough clothing boss brands lockdown rules ‘unfair’ after £22m sales loss
Peterborough employer Andrew Killingsworth has hit out at the unfairness of the Covid lockdown which he says has cost his clothing chain a ‘colossal’ £22 million in lost sales.
Now Mr Killingsworth (58) the founder of plus-size fashion chain Yours Clothing, in Orton Southgate, and which employs 1,200 staff, has written to a Government business minister, industry representatives and Peterborough MPs criticising the lockdown rules.
His concerns have prompted North West Cambridgeshire MP Shailesh Vara, whose constituency includes Orton Southgate, to promise to raise the issue himself with ministers.
Mr Killingsworth says the spirit of the rules, which forced his 165 clothing stores to shut but allowed other ‘essential’ retailers to stay open, was broken because the regulations did not stop the others selling fashion wear.
He said: “It should have been a level playing field for us all. I was dismayed by how many large retailers were allowed to break the spirit of the lockdown agreement.
“They should have been expected to adhere to the spirit of the agreement and refrain from selling garments.”
In his letter to Alok Sharma, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industry, Mr Vara, Peterborough MP Paul Bristow and the British Retail Council, Mr Killingsworth states: “I feel I must bring some unjustifiable practices to your attention.
“The government laid down rules which allowed some essential stores to remain open but forced so called non-essential stores to close. Clothing retailers being one such category. The rules were at best ambiguous and open to misinterpretation and abuse. And this is exactly what has happened.
“This of course breaks the spirit of the rule. These are in the main major PLCs and their decision to trade non-essential items when all other non-essential retailers do not is in gross flagrancy of the rules of lockdown.”
Mr Killingsworth now faces a tough task to restore the fortunes of Yours Clothing, based in Bakewell Road, Orton Southgate.
He said: “The business rates relief and the option to furlough staff were a lifeline for us yet our landlords still expect the rent to be paid.
“The weather has been fantastic over April and May and we could have looked forward to record sales figures. But we will have lost £22 million worth of sales over the 12 weeks lockdown closure, which for a small private company is colossal. It is just unfair.”
Yours Clothing has also begun a 30 days consultation with staff with a view to making up to 35 redundancies.
The lockdown crisis is in contrast to years of success at Yours Clothing, which reported record figures for the 2018/19 financial year with profits rising to £13.6 million and sales reaching £105.9 million. The firm recently moved into a new £4 million premises.
The success helped propel Mr Killingsworth into this year’s Sunday Times Rich List for the first time in 976th position. Four years ago he was named Business Person of the Year at the PT Business Awards.
Now Mr Killingsworth is hoping that as he reopens his stores on June 15 the Government will review how social distancing rules apply to different retailers.
“I have brought our store managers out of furlough. We have installed screens at tills and put up social distancing signs. But we’re being told that customers should not really handle clothing and yet shoppers can go into a supermarket and touch the products and put them back on the shelves.”
Mr Vara said: “This is a serious issue which concerns both small retailers as well as some well known household names.
“I have written to Alok Sharma MP, the Business Secretary to seek clarification regarding the points raised.”