Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
Updated 14.23
CLERYS WORKERS ARE protesting this afternoon outside the headquarters of Natrium, the company that bought the marquee department store last Friday at the expense of 500 jobs.
Around 30 workers from the new defunct store made their presence known outside Natrium’s building, on Harcourt Terrace in Dublin’s south city centre.
Worker Gerry Markey, a 30-year veteran of Clerys, knocked on the firm’s door to deliver a letter of protest to Deirdre Foley, one of Natrium’s directors.
The protest comes after Natrium finally broke their silence this morning over last week’s controversial sale, and said they will “significantly invest” in rejuvenating the store.
Natrium, which has been the centre of a growing controversy over its treatment of staff at the iconic store, says it will deliver a “best-in-class mixed use destination” and aims to revamp the whole of O’Connell Street.
There is no mention of the fate of former staff of the store, 500 of whom lost their jobs with no notice, but Natrium says it will create 1,000 jobs through the planning, design and building of the store, with a “minimum” of 1,700 jobs when the project is complete.
The company says that they “are conscious that the necessary closure of the department store has had a very serious impact on the former employees”.
A Natrium spokesperson said the refurbishment offered an opportunity for the northside of the city.
“The Clerys building can be transformed to create a major new mixed use destination in Dublin City centre and to create large numbers of sustainable jobs. There is strong demand from international retailers and other commercial users for unique and best in class spaces within the city centre that is not currently being met.”
At 5pm last Friday, staff were told that they no longer had jobs at the store after Natrium completed a deal to buy the store. The company had employed 130 staff and a further 330 were employed in concession stores.
Natrium’s statement in full:
Natrium recognises the considerable public interest in the future of Clerys following the events of the past week. We plan to significantly invest in the rejuvenation of the Clerys building and adjacent properties, in compliance with Dublin City Council planning policy. The intended rejuvenation, working in partnership with local stakeholders and other interested parties, will be based around designing and delivering a best-in-class mixed use destination for Dublin City Centre. This will be an important catalyst in the repositioning of O’Connell Street as one of the great thoroughfares of Europe and the iconic Clerys building and clock will play a central role.
Natrium will provide more information and initial plans in the coming months. Job creation will feature significantly in those plans with approximately 1,000 jobs supported throughout the planning, design, refurbishment and construction stages of the project over a two year period. On completion, a predominantly retail-led development encompassing other commercial uses, subject to the planning process, will generate a minimum of 1,700 new sustainable long-term jobs in Dublin City Centre.
A rejuvenation of the Clerys building will assist in the revitalisation of this area, create significant new employment and will make a very real and lasting contribution to the City Centre. We are advised that all issues with respect to the liquidation of the operating company are legally a matter for the court-appointed liquidator. Natrium recognises that the Clerys building has been a very important institution for generations of Dubliners, and in particular for those who have worked there over the years. We are conscious that the necessary closure of the department store has had a very serious impact on the former employees.
A Natrium spokesperson said, “The Clerys building can be transformed to create a major new mixed use destination in Dublin City Centre and to create large numbers of sustainable jobs. There is strong demand from international retailers and other commercial users for unique and best in class spaces within the City Centre that is not currently being met. Natrium looks forward to proceeding with its plans for the Clerys properties and the surrounding area in compliance with Dublin City Council planning policy.”
Natrium Ltd is a joint venture between D2 Private and funds managed by Cheyne Capital Management (UK) LLP. It was established to invest in a range of real estate projects in Dublin and specifically Dublin City Centre. The acquisition of the Clerys property and adjacent properties is its first development project.
With additional reporting by Cianan Brennan.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
I feel terrible for all the staff and the iconic building at this time but I wouldn’t shop there as I don’t want to bring my children (and myself) through the sea of junkies outside. They need to fix a lot more than what was happening inside to improve trade!
Agreed. I thought Waterford Whispers News best summed it up in their headline on Monday;
‘Nation Stunned By Closure Of Store They Never Shopped In’
I have been in Cleary’s many time have never seen a sea of junkies outside it seen 1 or 2 on O’Connell St but have also seen a few on the Chams Elysees Ave in Paris Also In Oxford St London . have beer seen a sea of junkies anywhere but then I must walk around with my eyes closed. …
Christopher a lot of the side streets around O’Connell street have plenty of Junkies, shooting up, sleeping rough and hanging about especially sackville place which links Clerys to a number of bus terminus
I feel sure that the staff will be compensated, however you can’t make a silk purse out of a sows ear. Cleary’s saw living on borrowed time and I could see this when we visited recently. We shall have to see what the new owner makes from it.
Typo: ‘Cleary’s was living on borrowed time’…….
its about the staff really, not about location, junkies. or your option to shop. let’s keep the focus of this ruthless move to take over, oust staff who’ve served there many years. its about their rights in the face of this terrible wrong.
Bernadette, which law is being broken, which lawful rights are the staff being denied? Clerys has been on borrowed time for many years
oust staff?
The shop was haemorrhaging money…it was only a matter of time that it was either taken over or shut down altogether . The jobs were always at risk. While I’m completely against the way the new owners handled the closure, what did you expect them to do? Keep a non-profitable shop open just to save jobs? Pay the employees large redundancy? Was never going to happen
Natrium’s tax avoidance techniques are also “best in class” and use hedge funds based in tax havens like Cayman and Guernsey so that they can avoid making any contribution to the society and workers that they prey on.
b, the company was liquidated and that process identifies who will be paid. the business of clearys failed, and so people lost their jobs. a priority of liquidation is that staff get paid redundancy at the statuary rate; when you often hear of companies being shut down and the staff getting 4 to 8 weeks per year we think this is normal, but that is because the companies have bigger companies behind them with other staff. this is not the case here.. the reason the staff are getting much lower rate than this is because that is the rate that the govt say that is the minimum. if you want future redundancies to get a higher rate, lobby your td – not investors in bankrupt companies.
The Clery’s liquidation also shows a “best in class” implementation of corporate and legal structures for efficient asset stripping. This involved separating the operations side of the business from the valuable property. The operations business was then liquidated leaving the employees and creditors with little or nothing while the property is then sold for a massive profit.
http://www.thejournal.ie/gerry-adams-clerys-sale-conflicts-of-interest-2167203-Jun2015/
Neither the liquidators or Natrium seperate the operations and property businesses at Clerys, the previous operators were responsible for separating the the two parts of the business
Ah the sea of junkies can be beautiful on a starry night. Best enjoyed off your nut.
I’m 34 and have never been in there and have no intention of ever going
Bernadette you live in a dream world we all knew this was coming. I’m sure dunnes will take them in with open arms
How, in what way? It was a business brought into liquidation in a controlled manner to maximise shareholder returns and turf out staff at min cost. Unless your part of KPMG enjoying a big bonus from it, i cant see how.
I never claimed they did Wayne.
Both the sellers (Gordon Brothers) and the buyers (Natrium) have their own “best in class” techniques for profit maximization through exploitation.
Meanwhile KPMG works for both sides and acts as liquidators on one hand and auditor for the buyers Cheyne Capital Management on the other. Cheyne Capital Management is one half of the joint venture Natrium which also consists of D2 Private owned coincidentally by a former KPMG employee.
The parasites are a very incestuous group indeed as they feed on the carcass of the company.
the only sensible comment on this thread well said.
im sure wayne if one of your family was turfed out on the street without time to get their coats after a lifetime of service you would be the first one crying blue murder get a grip ffs !
this was for bernadette purcell.
And why was it never going to happen ?? Some people have worked there for over 30 years and are entitled to a redundancy package. New company speaking about all the jobs they’re going to create what about all the jobs that have been lost and not a penny paid to these people. Where is the right in that? More emphasis put on drug addicts than on the people that had a job last week and now don’t know how they will pay their bills.
Agreed. The headline is misleading and playing right to the Union’s agenda. OCS Operations (and their US owners) had responsibility for the staff redundancy.
Another faceless venture capitalist, with no beating heart and no real feelings for anything but money. Exactly what our country needs.
It is a business, not a charity. It is sad, but that’s how it works.
When they convert the building to a shopping centre they will employ far more people than they did as Clerys.
@Stephen Duggan
1700-500 = 1200 Net new jobs sustainable long term + say 100 construction jobs & 1000 more in suppliers, Faceless venture capitalist at it best. Bring millions in new taxes for both Ireland & Dublin to fund society as a whole & regenerated the area, what’s not to like ?
Better than a old tired store slowly rotting that know 1 shops in.
And, if there are decent shops in there it might attract people younger than the blue rinse brigade…..
and of course you believe everything you read e o’leary !!!
@patatas. It would be interesting to see if you would react in the same way if the company you work for told you that you were out of a job with immediate effect.
It’s not the closure/redevelopment of clery’s that’s an issue, but the manner in which it was carried out. There was absolutely no need to walk in and close the shop without notice, lay off the staff with no notice, deny concession owners access to their stock for days and to leave concession owners significantly out of money. It should not have happened in that brutal manner. It’s the very worst of capitalism and this sort of behaviour towards employees cannot be allowed to get a foothold here.
And anyone that works for them needs their heads examined, because they really sound like they respect the average worker , but we always get enough Irish people to turn coat on their own kind for a few bucks.
So what what’s the point if the rest of O’Connell street isn’t revamped!! What do u want a shopping centre full of feral kids, pickpockets and junkies!!! Nobody would darken its door!!! Get a grip man
Normally what happens in these situations is the new buyer pays the debts of the old one and gets the premises at a discount as a result
What they have done in this situation is they have purchased the premises, announced a new development and washed their hands on the debts.
Luckily enough for the workers the labour party are in power and can hold back on planning permission until the debts are paid
Always have to finish on a joke
Sure they can convert it into whatever they want, and best of luck to them.
They still wont get the footfall or the visitors until the problems on o connell st are sorted.
There should be NO planning allowed until these VULTURES show respect for the former employees.
Tony, I have a very keen interest in the proper planning and development of Clerys due to its historical associations.
It seems to me that An Taisce and other public interest groups need to ensure a long and rigorous process on the planning side!
Tony Surely the company that split itself in 2 , 1 part to close the business at a loss and part 2 to sell the building at a massive profit should be made to look after the unfortunate employees of clerys ?
Natrium shouldn’t be held responsible or restricted from advancing the building and creating what will be a net+ of 1200 sustainable jobs because of the previous owners morally corrupt business practices
Can you tell me why you think it should be held against Natrium and not OCS ?
Who closed the store and put all the employees on the scrap heap.
Ocs. The company that ran the business into the ground?
Yeh 1700 people working 15 hours a week for min wage
Have you evidence that this is what is planned? They are obviously not at the stage of securing tenants yet so it would be odd if you can predict what employment terms the new occupant will be providing before they’ve even been identified.
Money to buy the building and redevelop it but no money for proper redundancy. I’m confused!! How can they get away with this? Planning permission should be refused until they at the very least sort out the former employees.
Mary , they are getting their redundancy .
They are getting statutory redundancy.
They’re getting redundancy from the insolvency fund i.e the taxpayers are paying it, not the venture capitalists who will make a killing here
Their redundancy is paid from their PRSI contributions
From the Irish government not the private company.
From the PRSI contributions of both employer and employee.
I’m not an expert on the topic but would Natrium as buyer be responsible for redundancy payments? I wouldn’t have thought so…
No.
PRSI on employers should be increased so that the state isn’t carrying the burden.
To add insult to injury the new company that owns the building is headed up by an Irish woman. Shame on her.
Wouldn’t go near the place!! The entire street needs to be rejuvenated and revamped its knack-ville
Makes commercial sense to revamp and get more profitable concession stands in place of previous tenants of Clery’s in, a bitter pill for those who worked there but such is business. If I recall correctly, the luggage dept had twice as much floor space than some of the fashion retailers, with every Sq foot of retail area being priced accordingly this wasn’t a great idea. I just hope some Irish designed and owned brands will be part of the new look Clery’s, and it not be turned into another faceless quasi-paneuropean retail hall.
Any truth in the rumour that they are trying to get John Lewis to open up there. That at least would be somewhat better for future staff seeing as John Lewis is owned by its employees and they share in its profits.
I doubt it. This is a cross-contamination of stories resulting a rumor.
Baclk in 2008 John Lewis were due to be the anchor tenant in the Shopping Center planned for the site of the Carlton cinema on O’Connell Street.
Considering they’ve only bought the buildings and weren’t formed very long when they did it’s unlikely they have plans drawn up for the site yet. John Lewis would need a 20+k sq m unit to make their foray into Ireland viable and I’m not sure if the site could provide that,
That was the era when they planned to have an O’Connell Street garden in the sky and little chairlifts going up and down the quays and oh so much more. It all seems such a long time ago.
Good luck to them I say.
I don’t care what is going in there I won’t be shopping there. They could have at least treated the staff with some respect. Respect for people seems to be long gone.
These companies can just bulldoze people’s jobs and nothing is said. The present government is allowing this to happen and this company is taking advantage of the fact. Someone needs to be held accountable for what has happened here.
We’re all a number! Becoming more and more like America and our weak assed government which actually includes Labour don’t give a flying fcuk! Remember this on polling day!
Had to give you a thumbs down for complaining about Ireland becoming more like America and using the phrase “weak assed” in the one sentence
Anyone who has actually lived in both countries would know that the negative stereotypes Europeans have of Americans are the attitudes they are portraying themselves and in fact you would find a mixed society on the ground and not one that fits either stereotypical bs commentary unless you were looking at the immigrant class. Your weak ass logic is faulty.
It’s a bit of a paradoxical statement Paul but owners of Clery’s operating company was actually acting very responsibly, in shutting the store when it did, as the mounting trading losses were simply unsustainable. It is illegal for a business to take credit from any stakeholder, including staff, and continue trading whilst insolvent.
Not even our Government would keep pumping new money into loss making ventures, no matter what the human cost. Decision makers / investors involved must take corrective action, regroup, raise fresh capital and try again.
Human capital / workers must do likewise; ie claim their entitlements – redundancy, holiday pay, minimum notice, dust themselves down, retrain if necessary for roles that the market demands and start again. It’s the law of the jungle out there (the survival of the fittest), being a very competitive business world, where Human Capital is in plentiful supply and where Money Capital rules the roost!
Clery’s liquidators will confirm, in due course, if the iconic Building was hived off in the past to new ownership without a chunk of money being set aside, at the time, for any future scenario of Redundancy to cover related costs, something unfortunately which has come to pass in 2015.
Rory, you neatly step over the separation of the operations company from the lessor company which over rented the premises and precipitate a notional insolvency.
There was corporate chicanery of the worst kind.
So they claim they could not keep on 500 staff, but plan on hiring 1,700 to replace them?
They didn’t mention the 500 staff who now let me be presumtious here, they probably hope get employment before the revamp is complete… I love how people are attacking the new owners when it was the old owners who let things get so bad a court ordered them to close!
The court did ask them to close, but only after they asked the court to do so.
Sternn , how can any company survive paying 500 staff wages while a store is closed for a the sounds of it will be a major revamp ?
500 staff x €500 a week for say 9 months is €9.75m in wages and and then add employer taxes
No sane business is gonna throw away over €10m in wages for absolutely nothing ,
* * what by the sounds of it will be a major revamp
“sustainable” jobs? it seem that usually mean minimum wage short hour contracts. If there supposedly was not enough business to sustain 130 jobs how will there b enough all of a sudden to sustain 1700?? We don’t need another employer like dunnes that solves nothing.
Has Natrium any retail experience ? “Experts” have being trying for years to Fix Clearys. Yet this company Dismiss expert workers to ” write off debt “. Treat workers & customers with contempt ! They have killed the brand Clearys. Not a rosy future.
Martin the Clearys brand was long dead
Clerys in it’s existing form and from the previous yrs wasn’t a viable option ,
Maybe this is what is needed to bring clerys back from the dead and keep up with modern challenges and changes in the retail world
Clerys was a dinosuar that never really changed or moved with the times and it eventually caught up with them
I have full symapthy for all the staff and consession holders who lost jobs this week , Its a horrible postion to be in ,
I’m already here starting a q waiting to be the first person to buy something from the revamped store…. Can’t wait…!
No. You can’t do that. There’ll be calls to boycott the redevelopment by the usual suspects because 130 workers didn’t get “justice” (not sure what that entails) when the struggling business they worked for closed and the building was bought by someone else… which is terrible for some reason.
The insolvency was artificially contrived so as to ensure that the employees merely got statutory minimum notice, no consultation period and to deprive them of wages, holiday pay etc.
Why don’t they just buy out that dive that is Dr. Quirky’s and get rid of that dump
Cleary’s issue was having Arnotts so close by. A far superior department store in my view. Cleary’s never found their identity, they tried to introduce some younger brands but at the same time the place was filled with grannies in crocs and smelled like mothballs.
It is such an iconic building. It should be like our Harrods.
Which “security” company heavies were used by Deirdre Foley and Natrium to clear the workers and their personal belongings out in 30 minutes? And which company provided the “men in suits” to confiscate the tills and the cash in them while the workers were sidelined at a meeting? And which company changed the locks? All these parasites should be named and shamed.
The PR lovebombing has started. Natrium aren’t the venal vultures they’re being made out to be. They’re actually a consortium of kittens and puppies working together for the benefit of O’Connell St, and humanity in general.
I think at some point social justice should trump economics.
Unfortunately the two need to exist side by side and in harmony, unless we want to become a communist state.
It’s not communism
Any Government stakeholders in O’Connell St should be held to account.
Nár cheart aon agóid a bhith taobh amuigh de oifigí an dream seo agus taobh amuigh de teach príobháideach an duine taobh thiar den chaimiléireacht seo?
The auto correct on your phone is horrible man….
“The tongue being English, the heart must needs be Englush” An dtuigeann tú an méid sin?
What does “An tuigeann tu an meid sin” mean?
“Do you understand that much”
Humour man…. humour
I doubt what has happened is fully legally compliant. There needs to be a full investigation.
It is useful to identify the culprits for the maltreatment and exploitation of the Clery’s employees.
The store was over rented by the landlord, as associated company to the operations /trading company. The operations company was sucked dry.
These are just a few issues:-
1. The brutal manner of the imposition of redundancy in total disregard of consultation and fair procedures.
2. The blatantly obvious attempt to circumvent the TUPE regulations so as to kill off the accrued employment rights of the employees.
3. The naked opportunism of the acquisition and the preference of capital opportunity over the legitimate interests of labour.
4. The lack of social solidarity with the plight of the employees.
5. The dismal alternative employment prospects of the older employees of Clerys.
6. The legal, but immoral use of corporate structures, so as to leach value out of the operations company and so as to limit/restrict the redundancy benefits to the statutory limits of 2 weeks per year of employment, capped at a mere €600 gross per week.
It is important to note that just because something may be artificially contrived so as to make it technically legal does not make it moral, proper or decent.
The entitlements of the employees, over 400 in number (direct and concessionaire employees), are being diluted and reduced for the exploitative profit of a few. We have lost our moral values if we think that is socially responsible and moral conduct. It is pure greed and shabby opportunism of the worst kind.
The Clerys employees have been unfairly, immorally and unjustly treated. The maltreatment is indefensible.
This is a textbook example of uncontrolled capitalism at work. This is why employees need strong Trades Union who will fund a legal challenge to the artificial arrangements. The veil of incorporation can be pierced and there needs to be full scrutiny of the following specific arrangements between OCS Properties (the landlord) and OCS Operations.(the operating and trading company). The article identifies that operations company, OCR Operations, recorded a loss of over €2 million for the previous 12 months, while the landlord, OCS Properties, the property company booked a profit of just under €5 million from over renting the premises to the trading/operations company.
The employer was picked clean. This was not just a sudden and quick deal. The basic strategy has been planned and on contemplation for some time.
Do we as a society tolerate this? I don’t regard this corporate strike as remotely decent or acceptable. It’s a matter of basic values.
Even if what happened was technically legal (which I doubt) this was wrong.
While it’s going to be great eventually for many reasons it’s still grossly unfair on the current workers. Yes shut it down but do so honourably and with a sliver of compassion and it would have gone a lot better.
Shopped in it a few times and always thought the staff were really professional. It was quaint and nostalgic in many ways but that’s hardly enough and O’Connell Street is hardly a shopping street any more. Somewhere you just want to get away from.
clery’s sounds like grace brothers…… I’m freeeee
Sad to see such a great Dublin fixture closing.
I hope it is revamped and turned around.
I visited it on my last trip to Dublin, ate lunch and then used the toilets. As I was washing my hands the security were removing two teenagers from the toilet for using drugs in the cubicle. Not a nice experience.
I was evicted by an Irish landlord right around the corner from that building because she wanted to double the rent. Watching those protester brings back bitter memories and I feel for them and their families. Ireland is a country consumed by corporate greed.
Lol lol @ Allister
The guy on the right in the first pic with the mohawk is from my home town. He has died since. Only time there was in 92 and what an experience. I lived in luxury during the weekend too as my mate had relations living in Thurles and they very kindly put 5 of us up for the weekend.
I must be honest I couldn’t care less I lost a job as well and no one gave a monkeys
Why don’t you use this valuable time to get another job, you bums?!
Ye can’t stop progress murial.
have your say