Hundreds of jobs at risk after The Money Shop closes down following surge in complaints
Payday lender The Money Shop has closed down after a spike in customer complaints, putting more than 400 staff at risk of redundancy.
Read more: The Money Shop could cut 350 jobs and close 200 stores
In a letter sent to employees on Thursday and seen by This is Money, The Money Shop’s owner Instant Cash Loans said it plans to close or sell off all of its UK stores.
The decision follows “poor financial performance” and an “unprecedented number of customer complaints”, putting 427 jobs at risk.
“This is a result of the unprecedented number of customer complaints received by the business from claims management companies which relate to previous behaviours and conduct of the business towards its customers, pre FCA (Financial Conduct Authority),” the letter said.
According to the Financial Ombudsman Service there were 1848 complaints made against Instant Cash Loans in the six months to December 2018.
A statement on The Money Shop website said: “As a business, we monitor the performance of our stores and sometimes we need to make tough decisions. Your local store may have closed because continued trading from that location was not viable for us.” Some stores have already been closed down.
Earlier this year Ramsdens, the pawnbroking and financial services group bought several The Money Shop stores as a part of its expansion process.
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The Money Shop could not be reached for comment.