|
 Who's
Gone Bust in UK Retailing 2005-9?
January 2009
Legal Note: this listing of UK retailers
who went into receivership between 2005 and 2008 is based on research
carried out at the time and our understanding of their business
affairs then. Some of these companies recovered and came out of
administration; some were bought by other businesses; some were
sold as going concerns but changed their name; for some, the name
was bought and this is still used, but under different ownership;
and others ceased to exist. The presence of any business in this
historical listing must not be taken to imply that it no longer
exists, its name is not used or that such business, if still trading,
is impaired in anyway.
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2008-2009
The effects of the economic problems of 2008 on retailers have
been worse than predicted. In 2008, 54 large or medium retail
chains went into administration, employing a total of 74,539. Many
employees kept their jobs and others will have found jobs elsewhere.
This can be compared to failures of 25 similar companies in 2007,
involving 14,083 jobs. Most of these businesses had traded
poorly for some years. Most survived administration in some form,
being bought by another retailer, company management, or an investment
company. By Christmas 2008, however, the situation had changed completely.
Woolworths, MFI and The Pier closed for good; many retailers with
good reputations may find it hard to survive administration.
We estimate that during 2008, gross job losses in UK retailing
will have amounted to 200,000 people, although many of these will
have found work elsewhere.
- Passion for Perfume, the 44-store fragrance chain (t/o
around £6m) founded by Brendan Flood (head of Modus), went into
administration on 5 January, having made 185 redundant on 31 December.
It has ceased trading although a buyer for the business is being
sought.
- Adams Clothing, the Nuneaton-based childrenswear retailer
employing around 3,200 people, went into administration on 31
December. It traded from 271 UK stores, 116 overseas stores (including
India), and its Mini Mode clothing (a JV with Boots that is NOT
in administration) is sold in 330 Boots' outlets. 111 UK stores
were closed at the beginning of Jan 2009, with the loss of 850
jobs. It had been bought up by John Shannon (formerly Stead and
Simpson) a couple of years earlier, at the end of several weakish
years of trading. The Shannon restructuring, which saw the closure
of 42 outlets, had seemed to be working, but the collapse of retail
sales in the last few months doomed the business.
- Olan Mills, the studio photographer (mainly baby and
family portraits) with 34 stores, went into administration on
26 Dec. Half its stores were in Mothercare stores. All staff have
lost their jobs. The group was rescued by a management buy-out
a couple of years ago.
- USC, the 58-store branded casualwear fashion
chain (1,400 staff) backed by Sir Tom Hunter, went into pre-pack
administration on 29th December. Hunter's investment vehicle,
West Coast Capital, immediately bought 43 stores (1,147 employees)
out of administration, the remaining 15 stores are to close.
- Zavvi, formerly Virgin Megastore selling games,
DVDs and music from 125 outlets, went into administration in December,
threatening 3,500 jobs. Like other high-street traders, its sales
had been weak, it was adversely affected by internet downloads,
and suffered from the failure of Woolworths' EUK
(its wholesale supplier of new releases) a few weeks previously.
- The Officers Club went into administration
in December, 32 of its 150 stores being closed immediately and
the remainder being acquired from the administration by TimeC
1215 involving the chief executive. The new group will employ
990 people.
- Whittard's of Chelsea, the Centre for Retail
Research's exclusive supplier of high-quality tea, went into administration
on 23 December to be immediately bought by the Epic Group. There
are 130 stores and 950 employees. Trading has been weak recently
but the main problem was the fact it was owned by Baugur and backed
by Landsbanki, the collapsed Icelandic bank, making it another
victim of the credit crisis. Whittard continues to trade, but
it is likely that Epic will consolidate Whittards with Past Times,
another brand it owns.
- Envy, the 55-store menswear retailer, called
in the administrators for the second time in 2008.
- Max Spielmann and Klick photo-processing
shops went into administration in late Nov and 187 were
bought by the Timpson shoe repair chain, saving 545 jobs. The
previous owners of the group, Bowie Castlebank, had closed its
dry cleaning operation and another 127 photo-processing outlets
will close an overall loss of 1,100 jobs.
- MFI ceased trading altogether a few days before
Christmas, closing 111 stores and 1400 staff losing their jobs.
- Strategic Retail placed three subsidiaries
into administration in mid-December and suspended their shares
"pending clarification of the company's financial position." The
51-store chain included homeware retailers Fads, Leveys
(Fads) and Texstyle World (Fads).
- Allegra Hicks, swish women's fashion brand
sold online, in a London store and in Harrods and Harvey Nichols,
went into admin in Nov 2008 and was bought one week later by A
H Lifestyle and continues to trade.
- Fabric Warehouse, curtains and soft furnishings
with 31 stores, collapsed in May. 10 stores were bought by Caldeira
Retai, the others closed.
- SPCK, the 23-branch Church of England Bookshops,
had been acquired along with the leases at concessionary rents
in 2006 by two Texan millionaires (the Brewer Brothers) who trade
as SSG, an Orthodox-Church charity. Since then it has been has
been rapidly run down, with complaints of staff ill-treatment
(staff sacked by email etc) and an illiberal policy about what
could be stocked. The owners attempted to close down the UK chain
in 2008 by applying for personal bankruptcy in the US courts.
Their bankruptcy motion was Dismissed With Prejudice (i.e.
it was NBG). It is difficult to know how many stores are still
left operating or what is the position regarding liabilities,
back pay, legal liabilities, etc. Some SSG stores still trade,
but have no connection with SPCK. A poor outcome.
- 247 Electrical (aka Outkey Distribution) has gone into
voluntary receivership following the inability/'unwillingness'
of a major supplier to provide merchandise. Much regret.
- The Pier, the rather strange and exotic homewares company
with 31 stores and 17 concessions, went into Admin in the first
days of December. It employs 400 with 57 at the HO, Abingdon.
Icelandic owner Langerinn attempted to revamp the business and
senior people left earlier this year. The stores closed by the
New Year.
- Woolworths, the 820-store chain with 30,000 employees
and sales exceeding £ 1billion was put into administration on
26 Nov 2008, along with EUK its entertainment business and the
warehouse and logistics operations. The DVD publishing business
- 2entertain - a joint venture with the BBC, reportedly worth
£100m (we don't believe that either) may be bought by the BBC.
The first FW Woolworth store was set up in Liverpool 100 years
ago. The company's heyday was the period 1930-1956. In the 1930s,
its more successful store managers were so prosperous they could
drive Rolls Royces. It got into difficulties in the 1970s along
with many other long-established retailers such as the Co-op,
department stores, Burtons, and Bhs, but was sensible enough in
the early 1980s to buy the relatively small DIY chain, B&Q before
being bought out by a group of city institutions. They set about
improving the Woolworth business and buying new retail chains
such as Superdrug and Comet and, as the Kingfisher Group, had
become stock-exchange darlings by the late 80s. Management were
so successful that Joshua Bamfield (who updates this section)
with David Williams were able to win the European Case of the
Year Award, no less, setting us alongside INSEAD, IMD and
ESCP who normally dominate such awards. The new business was split
up and Woolworths was unable to find a role for itself. Its attempt
to run a mixed economy internet operation failed and the product
areas in stores lacked authority - which is to say that whilst
you might go into Woolworths to find something, you would not
try them first. Its suppliers lost their indemnity insurance cover
for Woolworths and the company ran out to cash. But it is still
a terrible shock - and terrible for people who work there and
their suppliers.
- MFI, back in administration again in November, immediately
closing 26 of its stores.
- MK One, the budget fashion chain, went into administration
once more in Nov 2008. Mark Brafman, the original founder who
had bought it from Hilco, left the chain in Oct and the new owner,
Bali Singh, was attempting to reorganise the business when an
unpaid supplier kicked it into touch. A week later, 85 of its
stores (800 jobs) were bought by Internacionale Retail. The Head
Office will be closed.
- Ghost, the 33-store fashion chain (formerly
with Icelandic backing), went into administration late in October
and was bought by Touker Suleyman, owner of Hawes & Curtis.
- Celebrations Holdings, the owner of 288-store
chains (1,800 staff), such as Card Warehouse and Cardfair went
into administration in October. It continues to trade as normal
over Christmas, most stores being closed in January 2009, although
75 stores were bought by Card Factory in December.
- Hardy Amies,
couturier high fashion and once dressmaker to the Queen with 6 stores,
went into receivership in October. It had asked its major backer,
Arev (linked to Icelandic private equity fund Kcaj) for extra cash.
- Miss Sixty (business name, Sixty UK), the youth-oriented
fashion trade with 12 stores and other concessions, went into
administration in October.
- Joy, a medium-sized fashion and homewares chain
(company name, Maureen O'Brien), with 28 stores and 370 employees
called in the receivers on the last day of September 2008. 12
stores (150 jobs) bought from administrators by Louche London.
- The management of MFI, the bathroom and home
furnishings group with 2,500 staff and 192 stores, arranged a
buy-out in September, did some reorganisation and put the retail
and property divisions into administration at the beginning of
October. Its previous owners MEP had bought the group in 2006
for £1. In the 80s, MFI was important enough to set ASDA-MFI -
a new type of company covering both food and non-food.
- Motor World, the 237-store chain of car-parts
and accessories, fell into administration following a "significant"
downturn in retail sales.
- Rosebys, the home furnishings group and haberdasher,
which has 2000 staff and 280 stores, went into administration
in September. Rosebys' outlets at Glasgow Sauchiehall Street,
Glasgow Forge, Dunstable, Basildon, Swindon, Brighton, Wood Green
London, Sutton Coldfield, Oldham and Leicester were closed on
October 2 and staff made redundant the next day.
- Faith Shoes, the shoe stores with 2000 jobs,
went into receivership before being sold to a new group (men's
clothing retailer Envy, owned by Kinnaird, and teenage fashion
business Chilli Pepper, owned by Agilo). Kinnaird and the management
own a majority of shares.
- Jumpers, the 40-store fashion chain (with 40
Irish concessions), went into administration in August.
- Wrapit, the online wedding gifts firm, went into administration
in August after the collapse of talks to save the firm, which
employs 100 people and has 15 showrooms dealing with 3,000 wedding
lists a year.
- Beds Direct, with 42 stores went into administration
in July and has been bought by its management. One-half of stores
have been closed, but will continue to trade from the remaining
stores and online.
- Floors-2-go, the wood and laminate flooring company with
137 branches, went into administration in July. The sliding housing
market and a slump in do-it-yourself home improvements was blamed.
 41
stores are to close immediately with 97 redundancies. The company
was bought from the administrators by the Hodges family, the previous
owners of the firm.
- General Trading Company, the famous Chelsea (London)
department store with three royal warrants, went into administration
in July 2008. The company was founded in 1920 and has an exclusive
clientele. The company is trading as usual and it is hoped that
a quick sale can be made.
- ScS Upholstery Plc lost part of its supplier insurance
cover in June, suspended trading in its shares towards the end
of the month, failed to find a buyer, went into administration
in the first week of July and was bought by PPH Ltd, linked to
Sun European Partners LLP. The company continues to trade from
its 96 stores (1300 staff).
- ProCook, the kitchen equipment and cookware retailer
with 39 stores went into administration in July. It was set up
in 1993 and employs
 261
staff. By the end of July, a management buy-in (backed by Ensco
688) had purchased the group, intending to keep all staff and
stores.
- Ilva, the Icelandic-owned furniture retailer with three
stores, which aspired to rival John Lewis by 2010, collapsed in
June. It made a loss of £62 million on £26 million sales during
2006/7. The company had been sold in August 2007 to Lagerinn (also
operates The Pier). There were 400 employees. The stores were
all closed in July when no buyer could be found.
- MK One, the value fashion retailer with 170 stores and
2,500 employees, was acquired by the turnround specialist Hilco
from Bauger in April 2008. Many of its invoices were unpaid and
cheques sent to cover the Christmas period had been cancelled.
The Company was put into administration three weeks later. MK
One is likely to survive as a 80+ or 110-store company meaning
that one third or more of stores will close. 100 of its stores
were sold to Jet Star Ltd for £7.1m after a few days. Jet Star
is connected to Mark Brafman, a director and shareholder in MK
One before it collapsed in the mid-1990s.
- New Heights, the furniture chain started in 1999, ceased
trading in May. It had 20 stores in locations such as Bath, Bristol,
Cambridge, Reading and Nottingham. The owners bought Sofa Workshop
(34 stores) in 2006, but their stores were unaffected by the news.
Existing shareholders bought Sofa Workshop and five of the 'New
Heights' stores which will be rebranded as Sofa Workshop.
- Sound Control Group, the largest UK musical-instrument
retailer with 26 stores and sales of £60 million and 338 staff
went into administration in May. It trades as Sound Control, Media
Tools, Turnkey and Soho Sound House. Ten stores have already been
closed with 163 employees made redundant.
- Ethel Austin, the Liverpool-based value fashion
retailer with 2,800 staff and 300 stores, went into admin in mid-April.
This retailer with around £150 million sales pa had been suffering
for at least two years and for the last eight months has been
very shaky indeed. Only a few days before, a refinancing deal
for the business seemed in prospect. 33 stores closed immediately
(265 jobs) and 180 head office jobs were also lost.
- Ossian Retail Group, owner of fashion group
Internaçionale and the Au Naturale homeware outlets, went into
admin in April as part of a deal by new investor Agilo to break
it up. There are 120 outlets, likely to be purchased by Edinburgh
Woollen Mill, Poundstretcher and Bon Marché. B&M Bargains has
already bought 30 Ossian stores
- Farmers Hypermarket, parent company of 'Farmers'
City Market', went into administration in April owing £831,000.
- FreshXpress, the grocery retailer that emerged
from the ruins of KwikSave last year, has gone
into administration. What a surprise.
- Toyzone Ltd, the operator of 20 toyshops in
the South East, South West/Wales, Yorks/Humber and NI, went into
administration in April but was rescued by J A Magson (toys/stationery
distributor). It has 200 employees. Its parent company, Youngsters,
which also acts as a buying group for independent toy retailers,
also went into administration.
- Sleep Depot, 100 units, 71 of which are concessions
Land of Leather, went into administration in April.
- Richleys Stewarts, the Swansea-based value
clothing chain of 29 stores, collapsed in March. Administrators
have sold 15 stores that will continue to trade (132 jobs) although
137 jobs will disappear in the remaining stores.
- Mexx, the US-owned fashion retailer, is to
close all its 61 stores by July, costing 300 jobs. This only affects
the UK operation (leaving 6000 employees in 64 other countries).
Mexx is a subsidiary of Liz Claiborne, but failed to perform against
Zara and H&M. Its UK factory outlets will remain.
- Select Retail, the 250-store value chain selling
women's fashion and jewellery, went into administration in February
but an immediate management buy-out saved one-half the stores
and 1,000 jobs.
- Elvi, the plus-size ladies' fashion chain with
28 stores and 63 concessions in Debs and HoF etc, went into administration
in early February, and most of it was rescued a week later by
mystery buyers.
- Base Menswear, boy's and men's clothing, put
its 18 stores into administration in February. It is hoped that
some debt reform and structural change may preserve the 100-year
old business.
- Sports Café, the operator of sports themed
bars in the UK, went into administration in Feb and its sites
in Manchester and Liverpool have been sold. The rest of the chain
will be sold as a going concern.
- The Works, the much-loved remaindered bookseller trading
as The Works, Book Depot, Banana Bookshop and Art Depot, went
into administration in February 2008. The company had 300 stores
(1600 staff) and suffered from poor trading, partly caused by
supermarket bookselling. In May, a management buy-in via Endless
costing £17-£25 million bought the company.
- Empire Stores, the oldest UK mail-order company, has
been bought by Littlewoods, which took over its order book and
current assets in January 2008, closing down all its operations,
850 workers losing their jobs.
- Stead and Simpson, owners of Shoe Express, Lilley & Skinner,
and Peter Briggs, did a quick shuffle in Jan 2008 to survive -
thanks to Shoe Zone. Stead and Simpson went into administration,
Shoe Zone immediately took over 300 stores from the 375 chain
and Clinkards took over 25, meaning that perhaps only 500 out
of 3000 jobs have been lost. The 25 factory outlets trading as
Famous Footwear had been sold off to H Jacobson, the famous novelist,
author of Coming From Behind and that one about table tennis as
well as owning Gola, Ravel, Lotus and Frank Wright.
- Dolcis, the high-street footwear retailer with 1,200
employees and 185 stores and concessions went into administration
in January 2008, 600 staff losing their jobs and 89 stores being
closed immediately. It was bought from Alexon in 2006, but over
Christmas its major backer, Epic Private Equity, pulled out .
In Feb 2008, the brand-name, stock and trading rights for 24 stores
were bought by Stylo and 42 stores were put on the market for
disposal.
- Card World, the 27 strong card chain, went into administration
in January.
In Administration 2007
- Ponden Mill, the home furnishings chain with more than
135 stores, went into administration in December 2007 one month
after being bought for £6m by recovery specialist Hilco and hedge
fund Agilo. Thirty-three stores have been sold to Instore, the
owner of Poundstretcher, and six stores to Belfast-based retailer
Bedeck.
- Nevsport, a Scottish supplier of outdoor and snow sports
equipment with 12 stores, went into administration in October.
It is now owned by billionaire Mike Ashley.
- ePlay, the 123-store games chain, went into administration
in Sept 2007.
- RONIT ZILKHA, the designer fashion retailer with five
standalone stores and eight concessions, went into administration
in September.
- ChoicesUK, the DVD retailer with retail, local and direct
operations went bust in August. Its local and direct arms were
sold to Findtel and Blockbuster bought 59 of its shops in September.
 Kwik-Save,
the downmarket grocery chain, collapsed in July 2007. 90 stores
were immediately closed and 1,100 people lost their jobs. The
other 56 stores may be saved and rebranded as FreshXpress.
In May/June 2007 it was in and out of court, fighting administration.
It succumbed finally on 6th July.- Hawkeshead, the clothing retailer rescued from bankruptcy
in 2006, is to be broken up and sold off. It employed 400 staff,
had 20 stores and T/O was around £25 million.
 Fopp,
the 3rd largest UK music store, closed half its stores on Friday
22 June 2007 to carry out an urgent stocktake, announced a strategic
review of the business, but went into administration a week later,
blaming internet and supermarket sales of CDs and intense price
competition. All 105 stores closed on 29 June 2007 and 700 staff
lost their jobs.Fopp was a private company that had bought one-half
of Music Zone a few months previously, which cannot have
helped. HMV bought the name and some of its best stores
over summer.- The Natural World, the eco-gift retailer, has been unable
to find a buyer since it went into administration in January.
- Klaussner, the furniture retailer with 29 stores and
turnover of £27 million, went into administration for the second
time in May 2007. 250 staff have lost their jobs. The sites are
up for sale.
- Only2, the store chain set up by former Poundland
boss that sold everything for £2, went into liquidation in April
2007. The six shops in Brierley Hill, Keightley, Swansea etc closed
before Easter.
- Elle, the ladies fashionwear chain rescued
from administration (as Actif) in 2006 and now operating as L
Wear, went into administration again in March 2007, blaming cash-flow
problems. 32 of its 40 outlets have been closed by the administrator
and concessions in HoF have all closed. The business is likely
to be sold by the Administrators in May in some form.
- Ravel: Goodbye Ravel. After five years of losses, Clarkes
announced in May that it is finally closing the 50-store shoe
chain that trades as Ravel.
- Goodbye Robbs Department Store, Hexham. Closing after
189 years of trading, its owners (Owen Owen) notified employees
they had lost their jobs by sounding the fire alarm and holding
an al fresco staff meeting in the car park.
- Toyworld, with 22 stores and 223 staff, went
into administration in March 2007, blaming poor trading. The Company's
parent is Youngsters.
- Owen Owen, which runs Lewis's in Liverpool, Esslemont
& MacIntosh in Aberdeen, Robbs in Hexham (Northumberland), and
Jopling's in Sunderland went into administration at the end of
February. By May there was hope of reconstituting it as 'son of
Allders'.
- Filmnight, the DvD rental business with 60 stores, was
placed in administration. 14 stores have been purchased by Christopher
Simpson.
- David Flatman , the discount book retailer that trades
as Bookworld, Bargain Books and bw! went into administration in
mid-February 2007.There were 50 stores (turnover £30 million)
with 397 staff. Eight stores closed immediately with four more
due to shut at the end of February.
- Stationery Box, the Warrington-based chain
of 140 stationery stores, went into administration on 31 January
2007 blaming stiff competition from supermarkets and the internet.
Theo Paphitis (Dragons' Den) had bought the company name
and 61 stores only a few days beforehand.
- Right Price Tiles, the Swansea-based company
with 53 stores, went into administration at the end of January.
An earlier version of this company called Tiles-R-Us had done
the same last year until being bought by the Irish concern, Railway
Tile Store (note: imaginative company names in this sector
of retailing).
- The Peak Store, a small walking/adventure clothing
business with shops in Bakewell, Derby and Nottingham went out
of business losing 30 jobs blaming mild weather, high costs and
competition from multiples.
- H Plumb & Son, the Wigan-based electrical chain
with 10 stores and 100 staff, is also in administration. It has
closed 8 shops and dismissed three-quarters of the existing employees.
- Greeting Card Group, the second-largest UK
greeting card store, went pop on 2 January 2007. It has 470 stores
trading mainly as 'Cardfair' or 'Card Warehouse' and 2,500 employees.
The turnover was £70 milllion.
- Music Zone,the independent music store chain,
which sold itself as a cut-price alternative to Virgin and HMV,
went into administration in early January affecting 1,100 staff
and 103 stores. Fopp bought the company name, 67 stores, 3 warehouses
before going bust themselves a few months later.
- Little Chef, the ubiquitous roadside restaurant
chain with several previous owners, went into administration at
the beginning of January 2007, having failed to obtain new funds
over Christmas. 196 of the chain's 236 restuarants were later
sold to a new owner in January, saving most of the 3200 jobs.
The company is to be sold in July for £20 million the Benetton
family (who own Autogrill in Italy).
Who Went Down in 2006?
- Olan Mills Photography
- Glyn Webb
- Aftershock
- Ilkeston Consumer Coop
- MFI sold off (see 2008)
- Mikey Contemporary Jewellery
- PowerHouse electricals retailing
- Toymaster Kingdom
- Actif owner of the Elle brand in the UK
- Morgan UK Fashion Icon
- Miller Brothers electrical business
- Baron Jon menswear retailers
- Dewhurst Master Butcher
- Silverscreen
- Bewise and QS value fashion chains
- Sock Shop
- Capo Man & Woman
- Kookai
- MVC and DVD
NEWS OF 2005
During 2005, the retailers that collapsed or went into administration
included:
- Past Times
- Allders Department Store (Croydon store rescued by Jaeger and
still bears the name)
- Unwins Wine group
- All:Sports
- Furnitureland
- The Sofa Company
- Ciro Citterio
- the Gadget Shop
- Index
- Etam
- Pilot Clothing
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