Debenhams’ city store still faces uncertain future in 2020

It is understood that more than 100 of the chain’s 166 UK stores have had their rents cut, staving off the immediate threat of closure, in line with a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) launched earlier this year.

Twenty-two stores are earmarked for closure in 2020 and the Magdalen Street store is not on the list but the CVA involves reducing the number of stores by a total of 50.

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A CVA is a legal process which allows a company to reach a compromise with some or all of its creditors.

Most retail CVAs are structured to close stores, reduce rents and change lease terms with landlords.

It is thought that in the case of Debenhams, more than 80 per cent of creditors have agreed to the CVA.

A new coffee shop, Adoro Caffe, recently opened at Debenhams in Oxford.

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Following the shock announcement today that Boswells is ‘almost certain’ to close in 2020 retail experts are now considering the possibility that Debenhams opposite could also close, leaving John Lewis at the Westgate Centre as the city’s only remaining department store.

Administrators were appointed to Debenhams plc on April 9 and it was announced earlier this year that the Debenhams branch in Marriotts Walk will be one of the 22 stores to shut in the first wave of closures.

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Graham Jones, a spokesman for traders’ group ROX (Backing Oxford Business), said: “Debenhams in Oxford will no longer see competition across the road but it still faces competition from John Lewis.”