11:40am Tuesday 22nd December 2009
By Adam Binnie
Staff at a popular Watford coffee shop are facing a black Christmas as it closes its doors for the last time today.
Starbucks, located at the Borders book shop in the Waterfield’s Shopping Centre, was forced to announce its closure this month when its host company went into administration.
Its 15 employees will now be moved on a temporary basis to other regional outlets, but have received no guarantees about their long-term futures.
Manager Jamie Waters said: “Out of the 15-20 guys who work for this Borders, I know that only a couple of them have got jobs.”
Employee Shirley Manix, from Merryhill Road, Bushey, has worked at the coffee shop for five years.
She said: “It's been a very uncertain time. I've been living on mint tea because I'm so stressed. Most of us going to have to move to the Harlequin Centre."
The closure comes at a time of high unemployment in 18-24 year olds. The August peak of 440 was the highest figure since 1996.
Roger Gagan, Chief Executive of Watford and West Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “These figures must be viewed in context with the national average, which Watford is still below.
“We're certainly not complacent about unemployment and are trying to bring new business to the town to bring these figures down further.”
Tim McCoy, head of communications for Starbucks UK & Ireland, described the closure as “very disappointing” as UK stores are performing strongly, despite the difficulties faced by Borders.
He said: “We are working to temporarily redeploy as many partners [staff] as possible to nearby Starbucks stores.
“We are also exploring all potential opportunities with new tenants that may take over any of the affected Borders sites.
“Our customers have also been lending their support to our store teams, in some cases even sending us petitions asking us to stay open, but unfortunately this is beyond our control.”
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