Debenhams donates staff hours to help independent shops recover

Debenhams Battersea, which was looted during the recent London riots, is to donate a 'working week' of hours to the local community, seconding staff to help smaller, independent stores recover.

Despite the damage that was done, Debenhams Battersea was open again just three days after the events of Monday 8th August. Staff worked alongside local residents to clean up and get the store trading as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, other stores in the area have not been so lucky and are still boarded up without stock to sell or even shelving and display units to put it on.

As such, 35 hours of Debenhams' staff time has been made available for a month to those businesses that could benefit from the manpower and retail knowledge on offer.

Debenhams Battersea store manager, Neil Roberts, said: "In the spirit of the kindness shown to us by the people of Clapham and Battersea, we would like to give something back to the community.

"Practical support from all areas of our business is available to local, independent shops and businesses that need a helping hand to get back up and running."

Lorinda Freint, Clapham Junction town centre manager added: "Debenhams is an important anchor store in the town centre.

"The Clapham Junction Town Centre Partnership is delighted with the on-going support it gives small businesses in helping them get back on their feet."

Local businesses are invited to contact Julian Paine, Debenhams Battersea's technical services manager to ask for assistance. Help is available from the store's maintenance team, cleaning, loss prevention, visual merchandise, sales and management. 

Debenhams' Neil Roberts concluded: "The Battersea store staff are incredibly enthusiastic about getting out into the local community to support our neighbours.

"We urge local businesses to come to Debenhams and let us know what they need."

ENDS

About Debenhams:
Debenhams is the second largest department store chain in the UK with a strong presence in key product categories including womens clothing, mens clothing, childrenswear, furniture and health and beauty. Debenhams operates 167 stores in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Debenhams also has 61 international franchise stores in 24 countries and six Magasin stores in Denmark.

Designers at Debenhams include Preen, Jonathan Saunders, Jonathan Kelsey, Roksanda Ilincic, Ted Baker, Jeff Banks, Jasper Conran, Erickson Beamon, FrostFrench, Henry Holland, Betty Jackson, Ben de Lisi, Julien Macdonald, Melissa Odabash, Jane Packer, Pearce Fionda, Janet Reger, John Rocha, Lisa Stickley, Eric Van Peterson and Matthew Williamson.

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