Mer du Nord almost bankrupt

Restructuring in summer “insufficient”

Mer du Nord already underwent a restructuring in the summer, forcing 22 (of the 100) employees out the door. Apparently, that move did not help keep the company afloat. “We are on the brink of bankruptcy”, ACLVB labour union secretary Pascal Freson told press agency Belga.

The company was founded in 1988, but has been stacking onerous years. It had more than 1 million euro net losses in 2011 and 2012, but managed to cut down the losses to 108,000 euro in 2013 (on a nearly 18.5 million euro turnover).

Restart with ten boutiques?

Mer du Nord has already sold its boutiques in Bruges and Knokke, while looking for a buyer for 2 of its boutiques in Brussels. The goal would be to restart with some 10 own stores, while its collections are also available in a series of multi-brand stores.

“There is a lot of uncertainty among the staff”, the liberal labour union representative said. He fears that those who will lose their job in the restructuring will not get their severance package at all or at least not at once.

No one from Mer du Nord’s management was available on Thursday for a comment.