A leading clothes shop in the heart of the capital’s main shopping street is to close ’permanently’ with all 11 staff being made redundant, it has been confirmed.

An inside source at Topshop in Strand Street, Douglas, said the news was devastating and added: ’We have become like a family, but we will be keeping in close touch with each other and we will bounce back in some form even if that means working for other companies.

’Our colleagues include young single people and married men and women but we all got on well as a team.

’They had helped to make this one of the best shops in the island and we were very proud of what we achieved.’

Staff at the shop had been concerned for the future since we reported in December that Sir Philip Green’s stricken retail empire Arcadia collapsed into administration.

The insider said: ’I can confirm that all the staff at Topshop and Topman are being made redundant. We will not be reopening after the lockdown in the Isle of Man.’

They said they had been looking forward to reopening as early as next Monday after the government signalled the ’circuit breaker’ lockdown could end then if there are no more community transmissions of the virus.

Now, staff have been faced with packing stock into boxes and even stripping the floors.

’As you can imagine this is quite sensitive for the staff because this has come as quite a shock.

’I can’t answer for the rest of the brands on the high street, but Topshop will not be reopening on Strand Street.’

The source added that staff were clearly upset after the bombshell this week of being told they were losing their jobs.

A spokesman in the press office in London said: ’We can confirm that the Topshop store in Douglas will be permanently closing. There is no comment/statement which we will be making on this closure.’

Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia retail empire, which employs around 13,000 people with more than 400 UK stores, collapsed into administration at the start of December after it became the latest company hammered by the coronavirus pandemic.

Dorothy Perkins also trades in Strand Street, sharing premises with menswear outlet Burton. In nearby Duke Street, womenswear shop Wallis also operates. As we were going to press yesterday (Wednesday) it remained unclear what the future holds for these brands as Arcadia administrators continued to negotiate with other companies.

Other sources in the island retail trade have indicated to the Manx Independent that while there was uncertainty over the future in the wake of the Arcadia collapse, they were surprised by the decision to close Topshop because it was understood to be profitable and doing well in comparison with other stores in the north west of England, for instance.

Businessman Stephen Bradley, landlord of the 10,000 sqft Topshop building in the heart of the island’s main shopping street, told the Manx Independent: ’Our thoughts go out to the staff involved.’

He added: ’We have been progressing discussions with a number of UK operators who are interested in the unit which is in a prime position in the middle of Strand Street and which was the most recently constructed. It was constructed in 2010 for Arcadia.’

Mr Bradley said he was ’confident’ that new tenants would be found.

He added that an expression of interest had been made before Christmas at the time it was clear Arcadia was in trouble.

It is understood interest is being shown from a UK chain for the island site, but this is not related to online fashion group Asos, which is reportedly in talks with the administrators.

Andy Corrie, chairman of the retail committee at the Chamber of Commerce, said: ’It is a big disappointment for the offering on the high street in Douglas.

’From the point of view of the staff affected there is never a good time to find out you are being made redundant.

’In the current climate, straight after Christmas and the uncertainty around Covid, it is a difficult time to be made redundant.

’However I would urge those affected to reach out to the retail community in the Isle of Man to see if their skills set could be used working for them.’

Mr Corrie added: ’I would hope that such a good-quality building would attract another high-quality tenant to enhance the high street.

’I would still say to people that there are still plenty of Manx independent clothing retailers and still plenty of reason for customers to visit the high street and spend their money with other clothing retailers, particularly the locally owned ones.’

Debbie Halsall, island regional officer of the Unite union, said it was ’very sad news’ and added: ’My heart bleeds for the staff who are losing their jobs.’

She added: ’I’m feeling very sad about this news, it is another blow for the island.

’I fear the high street will become a ghost town.’

Mrs Halsall said that although she does not represent any of the staff at Topshop she ’feels for the people who are losing their jobs.’

Meanwhile it emerged yesterday (Wednesday) on a national UK basis new documents prepared for Arcadia Group administrators Deloitte have reportedly found that Topshop and Topman failed with gross liabilities of more than £550 million.

Sir Philip Green’s retail empire fell into administration under the weight of debts totalling £750 million, the Telegraph reported.

Reports prepared by accountancy company Deloitte at the end of November last year have revealed the full extent of the financial state of the retail group.