TALKS about the future of John Lewis York have failed to save the store as the department chain confirms today that it will remain permanently closed.

The decision follows consultation with York Partners - the 209 members of staff employed at the store which opened at Vangarde Shopping Park in 2014.

A spokesman told The Press: "It is with regret that we confirm that the shop will remain permanently closed.

"We will now meet with each Partner individually to discuss how best we can support them as well as looking at redeployment opportunities should they wish."

The chain previously announced in March that it was rebalancing its estate after recording a £517 million loss in 2020 and seeing a major online shift in customers’ shopping habits.

A petition set up to try and save John Lewis York and the 209 jobs at risk quickly attracted support from thousands of customers.

Kylie Gilson, head of branch for John Lewis York, said: “I’m really proud of the dedication, passion and professionalism my team of Partners have shown not only in the extraordinary circumstances retailers have faced over the last year, but especially since the proposal to close came forward earlier this year.

"I will miss them all, as well as our customers, who I am equally grateful to for their loyalty and custom over the past seven years. I am sorry we won’t now have the opportunity to say goodbye, but we will take away some very happy memories.”

As reported at the time of the announcement in March, John Lewis said it would support any employees who could not remain with the Partnership in a number of ways.

These include:

• They will have access to a dedicated Retraining Fund, which will contribute up to £3,000 towards a recognised qualification or course for up to two years for any Partner with two years’ service or more.

• All Partners will have the option of a three month support programme with an outplacement specialist to help with CV writing and interview skills.

• In addition to statutory redundancy payments, Partners who have worked with the business for more than a year would be entitled to Partnership redundancy pay, which equates to two weeks’ pay for every year of service, regardless of age.

• Those with less than one year’s service who leave on grounds of redundancy would receive an ex-gratia tax-free payment equivalent to one week’s contractual pay.