Fife employees face anxious wait as Carphone Warehouse announce 92 store closures

Employees of Carphone Warehouse in Fife face uncertainty after the company today announced that it is to close 92 standalone stores across the UK this year.

The company is yet to confirm which 92 stores will close.

The move is the result of changing consumer habits said a Dixons Carphone spokesman, with customers keeping handsets longer and increasing numbers moving over to ‘sim-only’ contracts.

However, they added that no jobs will be lost as workers will be offered the chance to move to larger outlets nearby.

Alex Baldock, chief executive said: “Right now, with our international business in good shape, we’re focusing early action on the UK.

“Overall, gross margins are expected to be down, partially offset by cost initiatives.

“We have taken early action here with the planned closure of 92 Carphone Warehouse standalone stores this year.”

The announcement now leaves employees of stores in Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes, Dunfermline and St Andrews with an anxious wait with the company yet to confirm which stores will be axed.

Shares in the group, which have already lost 30 per cent of their value in the past 12 months , tumbled by 20 per cent as the group warned profits would fall well below City forecasts this year, at £300m.