Ted Baker closes final stores putting 500 jobs at risk

The remaining 31 Ted Baker shops within the UK and Republic of Eire are to shut this week, placing greater than 500 jobs in danger.

The entire vogue model’s shops are anticipated to have shut by the top of Tuesday.

The agency behind Ted Baker’s UK outlets, No Abnormal Designer Label (NODL), fell into administration in March this yr.

In April, its directors closed 15 outlets and lower 245 jobs. One analyst referred to as the model’s demise a “lengthy operating company automobile crash”.

“Ted Baker is a rags to riches to rags story of the British rag-trade, an amazing disgrace”, Shore Capital’s Clive Black informed the BBC, including that it was a “darkish time” for individuals who had been shedding their jobs.

Earlier than it fell into administration, Ted Baker had about 975 workers within the UK and ran 46 outlets, plus an e-commerce platform and division retailer concessions.

NODL presently employs 513 employees within the UK throughout the Ted Baker shops and head workplace. In Eire it has 78 workers.

US agency Genuine Manufacturers Group owns the mental property to Ted Baker, whereas NODL was the holding firm for the model within the UK.

When NODL fell into administration in March, Genuine mentioned the “harm accomplished” throughout a tie-up with one other agency was “an excessive amount of to beat”.

In April, directors mentioned that Genuine was persevering with “discussions with potential UK and European working companions for the Ted Baker model”.

Nevertheless, Sky Information, which first reported the newest retailer closures, mentioned on Sunday that talks over a possible future licensing partnership had stalled.

Ted Baker started as a menswear model in Glasgow in 1988 and grew to have outlets throughout the UK and in the USA, with licensing agreements in place for shops in cities in Asia and the Center East.

However it has suffered up to now few years from instability, beginning in 2019 when founder Ray Kelvin resigned after allegations of misconduct, which he denied.

His successor Lindsay Web page and chairman David Bernstein resigned the next yr following a revenue warning.

“From a contemporary, aspirational and distinctly British snazzy model, Ted Baker by no means recovered from allegations of inappropriate behaviour, resulting in a chronic interval of withering on the vine”, Mr Black mentioned.

Retail analyst Catherine Shuttleworth informed the BBC that regardless of the long run power of the model, a “lack of funding mixed with disappointing gross sales” meant buyers discovered inspiration elsewhere, making the model’s “ongoing survival troublesome”.

The 31 shops which are closing are in:

Ashford, Tub, Belfast, the Bluewater buying centre in Kent, Braintree, Brent Cross (London), Bridgend, Cannock, Cheshire Oaks, Dublin, Grafton Avenue, Gatwick north, Gatwick South, Glasgow Buchanan Avenue, Gloucester Quays, Heathrow T2, T3, T4 and T5, Kildare, Livingston, Luton, Manchester Shambles, O2 Outlet, Portsmouth, Regent Avenue (London), Sheffield, St Pancras (London), Stansted, Swindon, White Metropolis (London) and York.

Ted Baker additionally has licensing agreements in place for shops in cities in Asia and the Center East, which stay unaffected.

On Sunday, its UK retail web site learn “Goodbye for now”, permitting clients 14 days for returns, including that it was “not taking orders proper now”.