Jobs safeguarded as Co-op sells off Derrys

Plymouth’s Derrys Department store is set to be sold to Liverpool-based group Vergo Retail Ltd, but the 180 full-time and part-time are to be safeguarded.

Plymouth and South West Co-operative Society is moving out of non-food retail and the sale not only affects the Derry’s store, but also the Homemakers tories in Plympton, Launceston, Kingsteignton and Exmouth.

Douglas Fletcher, chief executive of the Plymouth and South West Co-operative Society, told the Plymouth Herald: “The society is well known for its non-food stores, especially Derrys department store in Plymouth, so it has been a very difficult decision for us to seek a purchaser.

“From a business point of view, however, the loss-making non-food side of the business was unsustainable. This has been compounded by the Co-operative movement as a whole moving away from the non-food market with a resultant loss of group-wide buying power.

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