Troubled low-cost store closes

FLASHBACK to the store’s opening with (from left): Gary Thomas (manager), Carolyn Wilkins (Oldham chief executive), Jim McMahon (council leader) and Sue Strother, retail operations director.

OUR House, the country’s first weekly payment store run by a social business, has closed after only four months following the operators’ descent into administration.

The shop, in Tommyfield Market Hall, opened in June selling furniture, appliances and branded electrical goods.

Operators Homemaker Solutions - a subsidiary of the FRC Group - was working in partnership with Oldham Council but has suffered financial trouble. Existing customer agreements won’t be affected..

Carolyn Wilkins, chief executive of Oldham Council, expressed her disappointment: “We’re extremely disappointed with the news. Our House offered a fairer, more ethical alternative to high interest stores and payday lenders. We are working with the administrators to find out how we can best support Our House’s customers and staff.”

Our House opened as an alternative to loan sharks and payday lenders. Weekly prices were up to 50 per cent lower than other high street rent-to-own stores.

The closure of Our House doesn’t affect FRC’s other local businesses - Furniture Resource Centre, Buckingham Interiors and Bulky Bob’s.