Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

None of the 80 people working for Malta’s BHS franchise will lose their jobs despite the winding up of operations in the UK, a spokesman for Camilleri Establishments Limited told the Times of Malta yesterday.

The decision was taken on Thursday to wind down British Home Stores in the UK, resulting in 11,000 job losses after administrators failed to find a buyer for the 88-year-old chain.

But operations in Malta will continue “as normal”, according to the directors of Camilleri Establishments Ltd, the local franchise holders for BHS: “The company, as a franchise contractor, will continue its trading operations as normal throughout its whole network of shops.

“Serving our customers and providing them with the best shopping experience continues to be our top priority,” the statement said.

Camilleri Establishments Ltd said it was committed to continue all its trading activities, as an “ongoing concern”, across its retail points of sale in Malta.

When contacted, a spokesman said that while the UK operations were being wound down, BHS had some 77 franchise stores outside the UK, including in Malta. The overseas franchise had always been very profitable, including through online sales.

BHS in Malta will continue its operations with the stock it has

“We are keeping an eye on what is happening. BHS in Malta will continue its operations with the stock it has. Nobody will be made redundant,” he said.

All of BHS’s 163 stores in the UK will hold closing-down sales over coming weeks and 8,000 staff are likely to be laid off, advisers Duff & Phelps said on Thursday. The jobs of another 3,000 workers not directly employed by BHS are also at risk.

BHS was bought last year by a consortium called Retail Acquisitions for £1 from retail entrepreneur Sir Philip Green, the owner of the Arcadia retail empire.

BHS has debts of over £1.3 billion, including a pension fund deficit of £571 million.

Sir Philip, who bought BHS for £200 million in 2000, is reported to have offered £80 million towards the cost of BHS pensions, though the regulator could still pursue further payment from the retail billionaire.

BHS first opened in Malta in 1988, when Camilleri Establishments Limited, part of the Camilleri Group of Companies, bought the franchise and opened the first retail outlet in Valletta in April that year.

Over the years the franchise expanded to Sliema and Birkirkara. The last outlet to be opened was that of Fgura, the largest one in Malta with over 1,500 square metres of shop floor space.