IT IS good news at last for one of Monmouthshire’s high streets after M&Co’s store in Monmouth was saved from closure.

The store on Monnow Street is one of more than 200 of the company’s UK outlets to be saved following a financial restructuring exercise which has preserved more than 2,200 jobs after lockdown.

The company, which has had a presence in the town for more than 15 years, appointed administrators in April as the coronavirus outbreak forced the closure of most UK retailers for almost four months.

M&Co’s chief executive Andy McGeoch explained his delight at the news.

“Covid has been by far the biggest challenge our family business has faced in almost 60 years, and I am really pleased that we have been able to maintain a presence in over 200 communities,” he said.

“Covid-19 means many people don’t feel comfortable travelling on public transport or visiting busy city centres and that can be good news for local High Street stores like M&Co.

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“That’s why we are looking at ways of working in partnership with other local retailers to highlight the tremendous range of shopping that can be found in communities like this all over the country.

“Local economies rely to a huge degree on their town centres and we have seen too many high streets hollowed out by successive shop closures.

“The response from our customers during lockdown was phenomenal. We had a steady stream of requests for updates via M&Co’s Facebook pages, with some customers even posting letters through the doors asking when we were reopening.

“It’s hugely encouraging to hear our customers say how much they have missed us after months away.”

The administration process, which is being managed by Deloitte, will see the estate reduced from 265 to 218 stores, with around 380 redundancies from a total workforce of over 2,600.