Dixons courts Powerhouse staff
Invitation extended to troubled rival’s employees
August 23 2003
Dixons hopes to recruit staff from rival chain Powerhouse, which this week went into receivership and announced a package of store closures and redundancies.
Dixons, the UK’s biggest electricals retailer, has also been in contact with receivers Deloitte and Touche over the possibility of acquiring some Powerhouse stores.
Nick Wilkinson, managing director of the Dixons-owned Currys chain, has issued an invitation to Powerhouse staff who may feel uncertain about their future. Currys hopes to recruit around 500 permanent staff, include both full time and part time jobs, to meet is expansion plans. In addition, it will be recruiting around 800 temporary staff for Christmas.
Wilkinson said: “Currys has always admired the calibre of the Powerhouse sales team, who have the skills and expertise that are important to us. I hope that many of them will choose to join us and contribute to the Currys winning formula.”
Deloitte and Touche has announced the closure of 93 of Powerhouse’s 223 stores, but hopes to sell the rest as a going concern. However, rivals including Dixons and Kesa, owner of the Comet chain, are thought more likely to want to buy smaller packages of stores. Retailers from outside the electricals sector could acquire other stores.
Dixons said it had contacted Deloitte and Touche to discuss what opportunities might be available. Kesa is monitoring the situation but is understood not to have contacted the receivers.
