Some bad news during the Corona Virus lockdown for one of my favourite shops to visit in Dublin. From fashion to handbags to Maternity clothes, Debenhams was really a one stop shop ,with big inviting doors and wonderful service.
Debenhams is one of Britain’s oldest department store and has officially gone into administration after years of plummeting sales and crisis talks. Debenhams said it has appointed administrators from the FRP Advisory to oversee the process, after announcing it had filed a notice of intent to appoint administrators on Monday.
All of Debenhams stores in Ireland have closed permanently with no plans to reopen after the Covid 19 lockdown period ends.
In a statement, 242-year-old Debenhams said: “In these unprecedented circumstances the appointment of the administrators will protect our business, our employees, and other important stakeholders, so that we are in a position to resume trading from our UK stores when Government restrictions are lifted.
“We are desperately sorry not to be able to keep the Irish business operating but are faced with no alternative option in the current environment.
“This decision has not been taken lightly and is no way a reflection on our Irish colleagues, whose professionalism and commitment to serving our customers has never been in question.”
What To Do If You Have A Gift Card ?
Debenhams has closed all of its high street stores in the UK with no plans to reopen any time soon under the Government’s coronavirus prevention guidelines. In Ireland, all stores have now closed for good.
This means you won’t be able to spend any gift cards or credit notes on the high street.
The good news though is that its online website remains in action and gift cards and credit notes are still being honoured as usual, so now would be a good time to shop for those Maternity jeans or Maternity clothes that you have had your eye on.
If you have one to use up, you can still shop on the Debenhams website – but bear in mind this is worth doing sooner rather than later as once a company goes into administration, the company can close its website at any second.
If a company collapses, it is effectively up to the administrator who is brought in to decide whether or not it will honour gift cards. Gift card holders are viewed as creditors and once they write them off, there is no going back.
The terms and conditions on Debenhams gift cards warn that the funds are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and in the “unlikely event of the issuer of this product becoming insolvent some funds on the card may not be available to spend”.
If you do shop online, remember there will be some delays as a result of Covid-19 so orders may arrive slightly later than usual, so give yourselff a little extra time when buying your maternity clothes items.
Debenhams says online orders are still being accepted. Standard home deliveries could take up to seven working days, but its next-day delivery service is ‘running as usual’. If your next-day delivery arrives late, it has committed to refund the delivery charge.
Its courier service, Hermes, is running a contactless service, so make sure to choose a safe place on the MyHermes app after placing your order.
We here at Maternity and More would like to wish all the fantastic Debenhams staff the best of luck for the future and thank them for there wonderful service down through the years x.