Laura Ashley the latest company to announce shop closures

HIgh-street store Laura Ashley has announced it will close 40 stores, but remain tightlipped as to whether Wakefield's shop is facing the axe.
No word yet over whether Wakefield's store will be earmarked for closure.No word yet over whether Wakefield's store will be earmarked for closure.
No word yet over whether Wakefield's store will be earmarked for closure.

The fashion and home furnishings retailer says it will reduce its number of shops from 200 to 160 due to financial pressures caused by difficult trading conditions.

The company has not outlined which shops could close, but said they would look to move staff facing redundancy to larger stores.

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Wakefield's store is on Westgate Retail Park, which has already seen the loss of Toys R Us, Poundworld and Maplin in the last year.

Originally based in Wales, Laura Ashley grew from a small factory in Carno to become one of the world's leading clothing brands in the 1970s and 1980s.

At the beginning of the year Laura Ashley issued a profit warning after reporting disappointing 2017 Christmas trading figures.

At one point share value fell by 26%, which they pulled back to a 4% loss and were down 8% by the close