Uncertain future for Clintons stores with landlord talks set to be held

Sky News reported on Friday (November 1) that Clintons had written to landlords that day to invite them to a series of 'town-hall meetings' to discuss a possible company voluntary arrangement (CVA).

A CVA is an agreement between a company and its creditors to allow some of the firm's debts to be repaid over a period of time.

According to Sky, the discussions, which were due to take place this week, will 'raise the prospect' of Clintons axing dozens of its 340 UK stores during the coming months.

Commenting on the speculation, Eddie Shepherd, CEO of Clintons, said: "We can confirm that we are in the process of inviting our landlord partners to a series of informal meetings to discuss the current financial position of the company and for them to consider whether they want to work with us through a CVA process."

Clintons has 11 stores in Sussex – two in Worthing, two in Eastbourne, and in Chichester, Crawley, Horsham, Haywards Heath, Brighton, Seaford and Bexhill.

KPMG, the accountancy firm which has overseen a number of retail CVAs in recent years, has been lined up to work on the proposals, according to Sky, which claimed a number of restructuring or financing options 'remain on the table'.

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