A MAJOR high street chain has revealed the exact date it will shut 11 stores within days.
Ted Baker hired administrators from Teneo last month and has since revealed a host of store closures and the loss of 245 jobs.
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No Ordinary Designer Label Limited (NODL), the company behind the fashion brand’s UK shops, said 120 retail jobs will be lost, while 25 head office workers will be made redundant.
The administrators said they have earmarked stores for closure which are currently loss-making and believe “have no prospect of being returned to profitability, even with material rent reductions”.
Ted Baker, which has 46 UK stores, will close 11 branches on April 19.
The administrators also revealed four further stores will close after landlords served notice on the sites prior to the insolvency.
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This takes the total number of store closures to 15.
These stores will shut “in the coming weeks” and result in another 100 job losses.
The administrators said they have earmarked stores for closure which are currently loss-making and believe “have no prospect of being returned to profitability, even with material rent reductions”.
Authentic Brands, the US-based firm behind Juicy Couture and Reebok, is still the owner of Ted Baker’s intellectual property.
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It is “currently in the process” of finding a new partner to run the Ted Baker retail and online business in the UK and Europe.
Benji Dymant, joint administrator, said: “Ted Baker is an iconic British brand with strong partners around the world.
The secret bargain shop where big retailers like River Island and Ted Baker send their discontinued or out of season stock
“These store closures, whilst with a regrettable impact on valued team members, will improve the performance of the business, as Authentic continues to progress discussions with potential UK and European operating partners for the Ted Baker brand to bring the business back to health.
“We would like to thank Ted Baker team members and partners for their ongoing efforts and support at this difficult time.”
This is the full list of branches closing on April 19 are as follows:
Meanwhile, the following four shops will close in the coming weeks, but an exact date is yet to be confirmed:
- Bicester (notice served before administration)
- Brompton Road, London (notice served before administration)
- Floral Street, London (notice served before administration)
- Manchester Trafford (notice served before administration)
It comes after years of turmoil in the group.
Ted Baker started struggling in 2019 after founder Ray Kelvin quit his role following allegations of harassment.
Several profit warnings, a statement advising the stock market company profits will be lower than expected, followed.
And in 2020, the retailer said it would axe 160 jobs, branding 2019 a “challenging year”.
Why are retailers closing stores?
RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis.
High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
The high street has seen a whole raft of closures over the past year, and more are coming.
The number of jobs lost in British retail dropped last year, but 120,000 people still lost their employment, figures have suggested.
Figures from the Centre for Retail Research revealed that 10,494 shops closed for the last time during 2023, and 119,405 jobs were lost in the sector.
It was fewer shops than had been lost for several years, and a reduction from 151,641 jobs lost in 2022.
The centre’s director, Professor Joshua Bamfield, said the improvement is “less bad” than good.
Although there were some big-name losses from the high street, including Wilko, many large companies had already gone bust before 2022, the centre said, such as Topshop owner Arcadia, Jessops and Debenhams.
“The cost-of-living crisis, inflation and increases in interest rates have led many consumers to tighten their belts, reducing retail spend,” Prof Bamfield said.
“Retailers themselves have suffered increasing energy and occupancy costs, staff shortages and falling demand that have made rebuilding profits after extensive store closures during the pandemic exceptionally difficult.”
Alongside Wilko, which employed around 12,000 people when it collapsed, 2023’s biggest failures included Paperchase, Cath Kidston, Planet Organic, Snug and Tile Giant.
The Centre for Retail Research said most stores were closed because companies were trying to reorganise and cut costs rather than the business failing.
However, experts have warned there will likely be more failures this year as consumers keep their belts tight and borrowing costs soar for businesses.
The Body Shop and Ted Baker are the biggest names to have already collapsed into administration this year.
What does going into administration mean and how does it work?
When a company enters into administration, all control is passed to an appointed administrator.
The administrator has to leverage the company’s assets and business to repay creditors any outstanding debts.
Once a company enters administration, a “moratorium” is put in place which means no legal action can be taken against it.
Administrators write to your creditors and Companies House to say they’ve been appointed.
They try to stop the company from being liquidated (closing down), and if it can’t it pays as much of a company’s debts from its remaining assets.
The administrator has eight weeks to write a statement explaining what they plan to do to move the business forward.
This must be sent to creditors, employees and Companies House and invite them to approve or amend the plans at a meeting.
A Notice of Intention is used to inform concerning parties that a company intends to enter administration.
It is a physical document which is submitted to court, usually by directors aiming to prevent a company from being liquidated.
Like with a standard administration process, a Notice of Intention stops creditors from taking out any legal action over a company while they try and rectify the business.
Your rights in redundancy
Companies can choose to cut their workforce and employees should understand their rights.
You are entitled to statutory redundancy pay, but only if you have worked at your job for two years or more.
The statutory rate is based on your age, weekly pay and number of years in the job.
You will get:
- Half a week’s pay for each full year you worked aged under 22
- One week’s pay for each full year you worked aged 22 or older, but under 41
- One and half week’s pay for each full year you worked while aged 41 or older.
But it’s capped at 20 years and the max redundancy pay you can get is currently £19,290, if you were made redundant on or after April 6, 2023.
Some companies may offer to pay more than the statutory amount. This will usually be in your contract.
Plus, you are still entitled to any pay you are owed for untaken holiday days at the end of your notice period.
The government has a calculator on its website to help you work out how much you are owed.
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Ted Baker opened its first UK store in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1988, then second and third in Manchester and Nottingham respectively.
It currently runs branches across the world, including in Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai.
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