Last month, Nene Herald reported the good news that a new toy store had opened at Rushden Lakes.
Part of the UK’s largest toy shop chain, its launch immediately attracted many punters and excellent sales. However, elsewhere in the UK, “The Entertainer” chain faces financial problems.
Overall, they lost around £10 million so far in 2025, and had to make 41 staff redundant. The company blamed an “unheralded increase in employment costs.”
In November 2024, the company warned that this might happen. At the time, they said that they had been forced to drop plans to open two new stores after the Labour Government said that it would raise National Insurance (NI) contributions for employers.
The store at Rushden Lakes should be safe, because it is one of their biggest and best-positioned stores.
