M&CO shops in Haddington and Musselburgh will remain open after the clothing retailer announced plans to shut nearly 50 stores.
The company, which has been in Haddington for more than 25 years and in Musselburgh for more than 20, had appointed administrators in April as the coronavirus outbreak forced the closure of most UK retailers for nearly four months.
Positively, Haddington’s Court Street store and Musselburgh’s High Street branch have survived.
Andy McGeoch, M&Co’s chief executive, said: “It quickly became clear that the 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.”
The administration process, which is being managed by Deloitte, will see the number of M&Co stores drop from 265 to 218.
About 380 people are being made redundant from a total workforce of more than 2,600.
The Musselburgh store has seven members of staff, with the Haddington branch employing 12 people; neither store is affected by the restructuring.
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