Tayside and Fife are among the areas suffering job losses following the announcement that pet supplies chain Acorn Pets (UK) Ltd has gone into administration for the second time in just two years.
The shock was partly tempered by the firm which has its head office in Rosyth confirming that its stores in Dunfermline (Duloch Park) and Cowdenbeath escaped the axe.
However, stores in Arbroath, Montrose, St Andrews, Leven, Glenrothes and Dalgety Bay joined those in Aberdeen, East Kilbride, Fraserburgh, Haddington, Inverurie, Lanark, Linlithgow, Musselburgh, Portobello and Saltcoats in being closed immediately.
Acorn Pets operated 22 Scottish pet stores, and fell into administration in 2009. On Wednesday, it was confirmed the business has been placed in the hands of joint administrators David Menzies and Pamela Coyne of Begbies Traynor after a “sustained period of poor trading.”
The administrators have closed 16 of the firm’s shops immediately, with the loss of 122 full and part-time jobs. They aim to rescue the remaining six shops and save 41 jobs.
As well as Dunfermline and Cowdenbeath, the other four shops that will continue to trade are Ayr, Inverness, Kilmarnock, and Glasgow (Shawlands).
Joint administrator David Menzies said the family-run firm faced financial problems over the last few years.
“The business has struggled to recover from the administration in 2009 and the resulting cash constraints, and the management team have been unable to make the business work in the face of increasing competition, particularly from supermarkets,” he said.
“The directors of the firm took ownership of Acorn Pets (UK) after the business was bought by its management from the previous administrators Tenon in September 2009.
“The business has struggled since then and, unfortunately, with increasing losses and no cash available to pay wages, we were unable to save the stores that were losing money.
“We are already seeking a buyer for the scaled down business and we hope that, without the drain on resources of the loss-making stores, we will be able to secure a long-term future for the six remaining outlets.”
In 2009, the firm closed 11 stores, including those in Dundee, Perth, Kirkcaldy and Alloa, axing 73 jobs.