Garden centre chain reverses plan to close major store in Co Antrim

The company said the reprieve was as a result of talks with The Junction owners Lotus Property and Tristan Capital.

The Antrim store had remained open since Dobbies launched a restructuring plan in September. Now they’ve announced it will stay open, with all jobs being kept.

A Dobbies spokesperson said: “We are pleased to confirm that with the support of Lotus Property and Tristan Capital, our Antrim store will no longer close at the end of December as part of our restructuring plan.

“We are pleased to be able to retain our team, look forward to continuing to welcome customers into our store, and building our role in the local community.

“Thank you to our colleagues for their hard work and commitment as we have navigated this process.”

Alastair Coulson, managing director at Lotus Property, said: “Dobbies continuing to trade at The Junction is fantastic news for Antrim, not least because of the number of local people the site employs.

“The Junction is one of Northern Ireland’s leading retail and leisure parks, and I’m pleased to see the strong working relationship between landlord and tenant, as well as the commitment of our excellent centre management team and the Dobbies’ colleagues here in Antrim.”

Dobbies said its restricting plan was devised to tackle “to address historically uneconomical rent costs and to create a strong platform to return Dobbies to profitability, access future investment, and to ensure a sustainable, long-term future”.

But other store closures in Great Britain are to proceed, it said, subject to the restructuring plan getting court approval on December 9.