THE Dixons Group plc, which has taken over the Harry Moore chain of stores, stressed, yesterday that there was no question of 110 people losing" their jobs as a result.
It said the entire Harry Moore chain employed 67 full and part time stores staff at the time of its purchase by the Dixons Group, and of those a total of 15 stores staff have been "notified of the possibility of redundancy".
Dixons said that its entry to the Irish market had already created 70 new jobs at its store in Jervis Street Centre in Dublin. An additional 300 Irish jobs were expected to be created by the group by the end of 1998.
The company rejected a report in yesterday's Irish Times that 110 people would lose their jobs following the takeover. It added that discussions were continuing with the 15 stores staff, all of whom, it said, were recent employees.
"During this consultation period, they will be advised of other opportunities which may become available within the group."
Individual meetings have been held with all Harry Moore staff over the last month and they have been told that a review of the business would be undertaken and there was "a possibility of a small number of redundancies", the company said in a statement.