London — The UK’s deepening retail crisis threatens more than 11,000 additional job losses. House of Fraser plans to close more than half its department stores in the UK and Ireland, potentially costing 6,000 jobs, as the struggling chain pursues insolvency procedures aimed at securing new investment. Discount chain Poundworld, bought three years ago by TPG Capital, has just 10 days to find a buyer or it will collapse, according to a person familiar with the matter. The chain employs 5,300 people. The two companies are the latest casualties of a deepening crisis that has precipitated a spate of bankruptcies and restructurings among the UK’s brick-and-mortar chains this year. The rise of Amazon.com and other e-commerce outlets, who account for nearly one-fifth of the UK’s retail sales, has sucked demand away from stores. That has been compounded by a jump in sourcing costs after the Brexit-induced drop in sterling, as well as increases in staffing costs and commercial property taxes....
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