CONCERNED staff and shareholders of Clinton Cards have been reassured that the high street chain will not be going into receivership – despite share prices crashing in 2008.

Businesses including M&S, Adams, Woolworths, Zavvi and Viyella have all recently announced job cuts, gone into administration or closed down completely.

The share price of Clinton Cards, which has premises in Chester on Eastgate Street and in the Grosvenor Shopping Centre, dropped from 63p to 6.5p last year while the company is reported to be £60m in debt.

But despite the effects of the financial downturn and decreased footfall, the firm, which recently acquired rival card selling business Birthdays, is confident it will continue to trade throughout 2009.

Spokesman Nick Diddon said: “We appreciate that there is a lot of concern on the high street due to the fact that Clinton’s have a high level of debt but we certainly will not be going into receivership.”