The Wesley Owen Edinburgh Facebook page posted this message last night;

“We are now in administration and will be closing shortly. As will almost all of the Wesley Owen shops. I thank you all so much for your support and can I ask you to pray for all of the staff that received the devastating news today at 5.35.”

Lots of other things have been, and continue to be said about what is actually happening within IBS-STL. Phil Groom has been up to speed with announcements, see his latest update here, which includes a link to “staff reactions” on his own personal blog.

No matter how many shops are actually in administration, i cannot help but feel sad about the timing of this. Even if it was just Edinburgh – indications are that it could be as many as 26 shops – its sad to hear this 6 days before Christmas!

My thoughts are personal, as i cannot speak for my employer but i need to say that the communication of this whole situation has been terrible. The initial announcement re: the sale of IBS-STL and its other divisions leaked online early, the news of what is happening and who is or isn’t buying the various divisions has broken this weekend, yet again, before the company have managed to get a press release out! Unless of course, that was the intention?

Surely they know people will not keep quiet over the weekend? Facebook? Twitter? They are quite popular, you may have heard of them?

Lets not forget that 490 people are employed by the whole organisation and we now know that at least 10 ( i think that is right) in Edinburgh are facing a very difficult Christmas & New Year. The comments and ‘staff reactions’ over at Phil’s blog suggest that communication has been awful and that concern for these 490 staff has been less than evident. Only those in the actual situation really know………….

My thoughts and prayers go out to those who look certain to be losing their jobs very soon

Surely this didn’t have to happen?