KIRKBY IN SHOPS - UPDATE - WED 15th JAN Today has been a busy day for all parties concerned with the proposed closure of the In Shops this coming Friday. There has been three significant steps forward to keeping the In Shops and therefore protecting the livelihoods of the traders and employees and the wider town centre users... This morning a meeting took place between In Shops (who are still trading until close of business on Monday) and Knowsley Council to extend the closure of the building until the In Shops actually ceased trading and not this coming Friday. As a consequence of that meeting all of the traders received letters to say that it was business as usual until Saturday night. With time given to remove fixtures and stock on Monday. Whilst this was a small step, it has allowed us to have a few extra days in order for negotiations to continue. At the same time as the above meeting, a small group of elected people including myself attended a prearranged meeting with Maxwell Hodge solicitors to consider the terms and legalities of the contracts of the small businesses with In Shops. Our solicitor is now speaking with KPMG on behalf of the traders as to their intent when In Shops go into liquidation on Tuesday next week. Whilst these discussions have only just started it is sufficient to say that with the extra time now available, the solicitors will be acting in the best interest of the traders. The legal costs are being met by the council on behalf of the traders. A third meeting was also taking place at the same time between Dale Milburn (KC Director of Business and Investment), the In Shops and Tesco as the landlords. Dale, along with a number of other counsellors attended a 5pm meeting at the In Shops to give a full report on the negotiations up to now. As we stand the council are trying to take over the lease of the builing from In Shops for a minimum period of 12 months. In effect this means that they will become the managers of the building and its occupants (the traders) in the short term. All parties are in agreement to this, but the legalities have to be affirmed with the legal departments of all three organizations. Providing this is possible and agreed before In Shops cease trading on Tuesday, the traders will be able to continue serving the people of Kirkby in the short term (12 months). Naturally the longer term plans will have to be considered after this intial crisis has been dealt. The council will continue to keep the traders updated as further developments are made. I hope this post will squash any rumours and enable the people of Kirkby to realise that Knowlsley Council in this situation are working for the best interests of the people of Kirkby. I will post another update tomorrow.
Posted on: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 19:56:45 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015