Brighton and Hove branches survive Clinton Cards cull

Forty-four Clinton Cards and Birthdays stores are to close by the end of May but the three branches in Brighton and Hove will keep trading.

Their future is not completely safe but they were not included in the current round of closures, affecting mostly branches of Birthdays.

Thirty staff work for the greetings cards chain in Brighton and Hove.

Thirteen people work at the branch in Churchill Square, Brighton, six in Western Road, Brighton, and eleven in George Street, Hove.

Clinton Cards went into administration two weeks ago (Wednesday 9 May) as a result of cash flow problems.

One of the administrators, Peter Saville, a partner at corporate recovery specialist Zolfo Cooper, said that Clintons had lost more than £130 million as a result of buying the Birthdays chain.

He said: “We will continue to trade the business while we undertake a full marketing exercise to find buyers for all or parts of the group so that the best possible outcome can be achieved for stakeholders.

“Clinton Cards and Birthdays are very well-known brands on the high street and we believe that there is a strong underlying core business.

“We are therefore confident that it is an attractive proposition for a range of potential buyers and welcome expressions of interest from third parties.”

Last year Zolfo Cooper handled the demise of Sussex Stationers, selling on the rump of the business to WH Smith.

In the six months to Sunday 29 January the Clintons group made a £734,000 operating profit before exceptional items.

Clintons shops contributed a £3.6 million profit while the Birthdays shops lost £2.8 million as like-for-like sales fell 1.1 per cent.

The underlying business has remained strong despite some customers switching to online greetings and a recent sharp rise in the cost of postage stamps.