Administrators run struggling Postie Plus

Postie Plus store in Whangarei continues to trade while a potential buyer for the financially-beleaguered business is sought. Photo/Michael Cunningham

Jobs for 16 workers in the financially-beleaguered Postie Plus stores in Northland could be on the line after ongoing losses saw voluntary administrators take charge of the clothing retailer.

Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) yesterday appointed administrators to Postie Plus Group which manages its 82 stores throughout New Zealand after its lenders withdrew support as the company continued to incur losses.

The company, which has three stores in Northland, employs nine staff in its Okara Dr store in Whangarei, four in Waipapa and three in Kaitaia. It also employs a further four people in Wellsford.

Administrators Colin McCloy and David Bridgman, partners from PwC, said Postie Plus stores would continue trading while they worked with the retailer's management, store managers, and staff.

Richard Punter, chairman of Postie Plus Group, said the company had suffered a loss of market share and incurred trading losses.

Despite restructuring and recent improvements to gross margin and market share, he said the company continued to make ongoing trading losses.

Retail workers' representative First Union, which has only one Postie Plus member in Northland, said the best hope for affected workers was if the business was sold as a going concern rather than ending up in either receivership or liquidation.

"We [union] weren't surprised because the business has really struggled in the last two years," union retail secretary Maxine Gay said.

She said one of the problems that resulted in voluntary administrators moving in was Postie Plus' dispute with its distribution and logistics' provider Kuehne+Nagel International that led to both parting ways recently. Postie Plus' financial woes meant the company was required to report to its bank on a week-by-week basis, she said.

"The appointment of voluntary administrators means creditors are held at bay a little and they've told us that they've received interest from buyers ... although, under our collective agreement there's provision for redundancy, they are very modest."