HELENSBURGH'S M&Co store is NOT among the branches facing closure after the fashion retailer announced mass job cuts.
The Renfrewshire-based clothing company revealed that the Burgh shop in Sinclair Street will remain open, along with more than 200 other outlets throughout the UK, following a "financial restructuring exercise" which has preserved over 2,200 jobs.
The company, which has had a presence in the town for over 45 years, appointed administrators in April as the coronavirus outbreak forced the closure of most UK retailers for almost four months.
A total of 47 stores - including eight in Scotland - are facing closure with around 380 redundancies expected.
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M&Co’s chief executive Andy McGeoch said: “It quickly became clear that best way to save most jobs and most stores was to enter administration, with a new company acquiring the assets of the old business, and this process has now been finalised.
"Covid has been by far the biggest challenge our family business has faced in almost 60 years, and I am really pleased that we have been able to maintain a presence in over 200 communities.
“Covid-19 means many people don’t feel comfortable travelling on public transport or visiting busy city centres and that can be good news for local high street stores like M&Co.
"That’s why we are looking at ways of working in partnership with other local retailers to highlight the tremendous range of shopping that can be found in communities like this all over the country.
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“Local economies rely to a huge degree on their town centres and we have seen too many high streets hollowed out by successive shop closures.
"More and more people are beginning to realise that if they don’t support their town centres everyone’s quality of living really takes a hit, so we are proud to be playing a part in the drive to shop locally."
Mackays Draper’s first opened in Paisley in 1961 and had 50 stores by 1969. The business was rebranded to M&Co in 2003 and launched online in 2006.
The company has its headquarters in Inchinnan and also has a store in Alexandria.
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