Thorntons is to close its shop in Strand Street, Douglas, and all five of its staff will lose their jobs.

The chocolate company, announced earlier this week that it would be closing its 61 retail shops across the UK.

It cited the ’changing dynamics of the high street’, a shift in customer behavior to shopping online, and the impact of the pandemic - particularly the UK lockdowns during Easter and Christmas.

The chocolatier will continue to sell its products online and place them in supermarkets.

Inquiries have already been made by businesses which are interested in the location occupied by the shop.

Douglas town centre manager Oliver Cheshire said that he was ’sad to see it go’.

He continued: ’It’s a frustrating one because the store here has always been a good performer.

’But the biggest issue has been that they’ve had all these UK stores shut for months on end.’

Mr Cheshire added that the situation with the border restrictions would be ’a big stumbling block’ for any UK companies looking to invest and move into the premises.

The Thorntons closure comes after its next door neighbours Burton and Dorothy Perkins shut their doors earlier in February, along with Topshop and Topman further down the street.

Those shops were part of the British multinational Arcadia Group.

While there is uncertainty as to when Thortons will vacate the premises, Mr Cheshire said: ’If it’s anything like the Arcadia group it will be quite a quick turnaround.’