30 Schools to be Reopened

The Asahi Shimbun has reported on the potential list of schools that will be reopened by G.Communications. Here is a translation of the article:

Nova's plan to reopen 30 profitable schools

The Asahi Shimbun has obtained internal documents that show that Nova drew up a list of 30 schools that it wanted to keep operating based on their profitability. G.Communication, which will take over part of Nova's business, it believed to have used the list to determine which schools to open, and it is likely that these 30 schools will continue to operate. The majority of these schools are in Tokyo and the urban areas of Kansai, but the fate of other schools remains unclear.

Nova created the list after deciding to massively restructure the company. More than half of the schools (16) are located in major cities. By prefecture, the list contains nine schools in Tokyo, four each in Osaka and Chiba, and two each in Kanagawa and Aichi. Nova planned to shrink the company down to 200 schools, but this did not include schools in the cities of Nagoya and Fukuoka.

The list was based on a school's annual profits, the amount of the shikikin deposit that would be returned if the lease was canceled, and the cost savings associated with closing a school. The list was narrowed down to 30 schools based on this criteria.

The schools that were chosen had profit margins of 30% or more, hoshoukin deposits greater than ¥50 million, large numbers of students, and were operated efficiently.

Of the 30 schools, Nova and the landlords are said to have agreed to continue the contracts for the ones with leases.

In a press conference on November 6, G.Communications announced that it would take over the operation of 30 of Nova's approximately 670 schools, by transferring them to a subsidiary company, with plans to expand the number of schools to 200. The 30 schools will be selected and reopened next week, and are believed to be based on the list and Nova's plan to reduce the number of schools to 200. It is likely that after further study by G.Communication, it will decide not take over schools in suburban areas and leave them closed.

Schools with a high probability of being reopened

Hokkaido: Sapporo Ekimae

Miyagi: Sendai Ekimae

Gunma: Ota

Tokyo: Ikebukuro, Ginza, Shinjuku Higashiguchi, Shibuya, Hachioji, Machida, Shinjuku Nishiguchi, Kamata, and Jiyuugaoka.

Kanagawa: Yokohama, Hon Atsugi

Chiba: Narita, Funabashi Minamiguchi, Kashiwa, Chiba

Saitama: Omiya

Shizukoka: Shizukoa

Aichi: Toyota, Higashiura Shopping Center

Osaka: Umeda, Tennoji Eki, Kyobashi, Namba

Wakayama: JR Wakayama

Hiroshima: Hiroshima

Ehime: Matsuyama

Okinawa Naha Main Place

ＮＯＶＡ、再開の３０教室は近畿圏など高収益拠点か

英会話学校大手のＮＯＶＡ（大阪市）が、採算が見込める有力拠点として３０教室をリストアップしていたことが７日、朝日新聞が入手した内部資料で分かった。ＮＯＶＡから一部事業の譲渡を受ける予定のジー・コミュニケーション（名古屋市）側は、リストをもとに再開教室を決めるとみられ、この３０教室が存続する可能性は高い。首都、関西圏の拠点が多く、他教室をどこまで引き継ぐかは不透明だ。

リストは、同社が大規模なリストラを決めて以降、作成された。都道府県別では、東京が９、大阪、千葉が各４、神奈川、愛知が各２教室などとなっており、首都圏だけで１６教室と、過半を占めている。ＮＯＶＡは、２００教室への縮小案も作成しているが、そこにあった名古屋市や福岡市などの教室は外れている。

リストでは教室ごとの年間の損益や、賃貸契約を解除した場合の保証金の返還額、閉鎖することによる経費の削減可能額などを試算。これらを総合的に判断し、３０教室に絞り込んだ模様だ。

結果的に、売り上げに占める利益の割合が３０％以上で、保証金の金額が５千万円以上の教室が多く、大量の受講生を抱え、運営効率の高い教室が選ばれている。

３０教室のうち賃貸物件の場合、当面は契約を継続することで家主とＮＯＶＡとが合意しているという。

ジー社は支援に名乗りを上げた６日の記者会見で、同社の子会社がＮＯＶＡの約６７０教室のうち３０教室を引き受け、最大２００教室を目標にすると表明した。３０教室を決めて来週にも再開するが、このリストや２００教室への縮小案が検討の土台になっているとみられる。今後のジー社の検討次第では、地方都市を中心に多くの教室が引き継がれず、最終的に閉鎖される可能性もある。

■再開される可能性が高い３０教室

（北海道）札幌駅前（宮城）仙台駅前（群馬）太田

（東京）池袋、銀座、新宿東口、渋谷、八王子、町田、新宿西口、蒲田、自由が丘（神奈川）横浜、本厚木（千葉）成田、船橋南口、柏、千葉（埼玉）大宮（静岡）静岡（愛知）豊田、東浦ショッピングセンター

（大阪）梅田、天王寺駅、京橋、難波（和歌山）ＪＲ和歌山（広島）広島（愛媛）松山（沖縄）那覇メインプレイス