South Western pulls out of retail

South Western pulls out of retail

The bloodletting in the brutal electrical retailing market continued yesterday when South Western Electricity announced that it was pulling out at a cost of £20m and the loss of up to 300 jobs. The company is selling its 18 out-of-town superstores to Norweb, the North West REC, for £4.3m. Thirty high street branches will close when other bill-paying services have been arranged. South Western says its stores made £1m profit on sales of £80m last year.