Kirkwall Hydro shop to close

SSE have announced that it is to close its remaining Scottish Hydro Electric retail shops, including the one in Kirkwall, where four people are employed.

A change in shopping habits, including an increase in online shopping has been blamed for the closures.

A statement released today said: “SSE has today announced it is taking the difficult decision to close its 37 remaining Scottish Hydro Electric shops in Scotland, along with its associated online shop. The retail shops sell electrical and white goods and are predominantly sited across the north of the country.

“SSE has entered into consultation with its 119 employees affected by the planned closures and will discuss possible redeployment within the SSE plc group. It aims to avoid redundancies wherever possible, although if this is unavoidable, enhanced terms will be offered to affected employees during the consultation process.”

Stephen Forbes, SSE director of domestic retail, said changing shopping habits and more customer choice mean the shops have now been loss-making for a number of years.

He said: “Customers’ shopping habits have changed considerably since these shops were first opened with more and more people shopping online, especially for larger electrical items.

“We know some of these shops have been on local high streets for a long time so we did not take this decision lightly but footfall and sales have reduced considerably and there is, unfortunately, no realistic prospect of that long-term trend reversing.

“Our priority is to ensure our colleagues are fully supported during this time and we will work to redeploy staff within the SSE group where possible.”

All 37 shops and the online shop are expected to be closed by May 15.

SSE employs around 6,000 people across Scotland many of which are based across the north of the country.

When asked what would happen to the shop premises here in Orkney, located in Albert Street, Kirkwall, all a statement said was: “In terms of the stores, SSE owns some of the buildings and land and will look to sell those properties in the future; others are leaseholds which will not be renewed.”