Debenhams ‘permanently close Sheffield cafe and cancel furlough’ leaving staff furious

Dan Arnell, restaurant manager at Debenhams on The Moor in Sheffield, said that he had been completely unaware that his job at risk until last week.

Having been on furlough since lockdown began in March, he received a text last Wednesday (May 27) telling him to attend a conference call the next morning at 9.30.

At the conference call he was told that he was being made redundant with immediate effect as the cafes and restaurants would not be reopening when other parts of the stores reopen on June 15.

Dan was also told that as he would no longer be employed by Debenhams his furlough pay would stop. His 20 members of staff were all informed an hour later in another conference call.

“We all just feel really let down,” said Dan, who is 31 and from Sheffield.

“We have a really good team there and some of my staff have worked there for more than 20 years. We have a close relationship with other staff there and our regular customers, some of whom come in every day.

“Debenhams is still getting help from the Government. I don’t understand why they need to let us go right now when they could have kept us on for another month and we’d still get furlough pay.

“They could’ve have given us more notice.”

Staff have said that they will not receive a notice period or redundancy pay.

Dan said that the sudden loss of income has negatively affected many of his staff members with families. He recently bought a house and will now struggle to pay his mortgage. They have all been left to sign up for universal credit.

“When you go from a regular income to nothing it really does mess you around,” he said.

He said that many people would lose their jobs as a result of the restaurant closures.

“We are one of the smaller sites, and we have 20 staff,” he explained. “There are 100 stores affected, and staff from the travel money and personal shopping sections have been made redundant, too.”

During the conference call to staff members being laid off, Debenhams, which fell into administration for the second time in a year in April, said it was pursuing a "leaner and more flexible operating model" in order to adapt to changes in the retail industry.

In one email reportedly seen by the BBC, staff were told that administrator Geoff Rowley advised "we are unable to keep people on furlough if there is no job for them to return to".

Debenhams has not confirmed how many cafes and restaurants will permanently close, or how many staff are affected.

The company has been approached for further comment.