147 employees in Jersey are to lose their jobs within
the next few months as Play.com decides to close its retail business and leave
Jersey following last year’s abolition by the UK government of Low-Value
Consignment Relief for imports from the Channel Islands.
Play.com was one of the highest profile companies operating from
Jersey utilising the LVCR to import CDs, DVDs and other low value goods into
the UK without the need to pay VAT, and became one of the UK’s largest online
retailers. It was sold to Japanese
owners for £25 million in September 2011.
The
company will also shed 67 UK jobs as a consequence of its withdrawal from direct
retailing business. 200 or so staff will
remain employed in the UK, focusing on developing the company’s marketplace
business.
It is
believed that the abolition of LVCR has already cost Jersey about 600 jobs – a significant
number in a small jurisdiction which currently has a record 1,800 people out of
work.
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