I spoke briefly to Lee Manning, one of the administrators, this morning. He told me that they are close to having a deal on the remaining 89 shops. The process has reached contract stage and he hopes that the deal will be concluded this week. There now appear to be fewer than three bidders still involved. "It has been whittled down," said Lee, although he declined to give further details.
I'm not sure whether all 89 shops will be sold as a whole or whether there are a couple of bids intending to divide up the portfolio. I suspect that the latter is more likely.
I'm not sure whether all 89 shops will be sold as a whole or whether there are a couple of bids intending to divide up the portfolio. I suspect that the latter is more likely.
10 comments:
Jim, as an Oddbins manager, I'm sure I can speak for all staff by thanking you for your updates as we have had no communication regarding the progress of administration and/or possible sale. Keep up the good work.
Many thanks Kaiser. I hope the uncertainty will soon be resolved.
Jim
Looks like they are also trying to sell off some shops?
street lane, westminster and 7oaks gone yesterday, battersea 2morow...
Wasn't it the Battersea branch where they'd moved all the head office operations?
5 of us made redundant yesterday at the Oddbins warehouse were told that no buyer had been found to keep the business going, and that it would now be split up.
Despite assuring staff that they'd be fully briefed on what was happening, Deloitte/head office haven't sent a single email to stores since they took over. Next time you speak to Lee Manning, Jim, perhaps you could ask him why this is.
There's just no information at all. When we hear about the company being split up, what do they mean? The majority of it run as a going concern under the Oddbins name, or are they just talking about flogging off the assets? When we hear about no buyer being found, do they just mean that no buyer was found for all 89 stores or no buyer has been found for the Oddbins brand?
For Oddbins staff fearful of losing their jobs, it's completely confusing and nobody seems to know what's going on.
Thanks for all the comments. I tried to get in touch with Lee Manning yesterday afternoon. Will try again this morning and will ask about the staff.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Oddbins, where we have to ask a journalist to get answers about our jobs and our future!
Thanks to Jim for taking up our cause
No thanks to Deloittes and what is left of the Oddbins board for creating a situation where the only way that staff can get info is via message boards and blogs.
Not the best way to handle a situation like this but plus ca change for Oddbins!
I'm more inclined to take whatever Lee Manning says with a pinch of salt now. At end of the day he'll get paid whatever happens to Oddbins.
As for not telling staff anything, I guess they're just using the last means of motivation - having your job dangling on a piece of string in front of you and wearing a blindfold.
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