Login to UKBP
Commercial Property News
Bonmarche may be lucky as other Q1 retail failures struggle to attract buyers
After falling into administration last week, Peacocks Group, which has a £750 million debt pile and is the biggest UK retail failure since Woolworths with 9,600 jobs in jeopardy, has sold its Bonmarche subsidiary.
Bonmarche was one of the Peacocks Group companies that was not put into administration as talks were ongoing with a white knight. Bonmarche has now been put through a pre-pack administration and acquired by an affiliate of Sun European Partners.
Sun bought all but 3 Bonmarche stores and intend to close about 160 of the stores in due course to trade from a core of 230 stores, which will cost around 1,400 of the 3,800 work force their jobs.
So far the high profile failures of 2012 include Peacocks (550 stores), La Senza (146 stores), Past Times (100 stores), and Blacks Leisure (98 Blacks & 208 Milletts). This will blight many high streets across the country, some of which still have empty Woolworths stores from 2008, as administrators struggle to find buyers.
A total of 42 retailers went into administration in Q4 2011 for an annual total of 183.
"2011 was a tough year for retailers and unfortunately this trend is set to continue well into 2012," said Lee Manning, restructuring services partner at Deloitte.
He said many retailers banking on the busy Christmas period for a sales uplift were instead forced into discounting at levels last seen in the aftermath of the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.
"We are likely to see a further spike in retail administrations in Q1 2012 as retailers buckle under the pressure of VAT payments falling due, impending rent payments, the increased popularity of shopping online and the traditional decline in footfall as the attractive year-end sale offers come to an end," said Manning.
Bonmarche was one of the Peacocks Group companies that was not put into administration as talks were ongoing with a white knight. Bonmarche has now been put through a pre-pack administration and acquired by an affiliate of Sun European Partners.
Sun bought all but 3 Bonmarche stores and intend to close about 160 of the stores in due course to trade from a core of 230 stores, which will cost around 1,400 of the 3,800 work force their jobs.
So far the high profile failures of 2012 include Peacocks (550 stores), La Senza (146 stores), Past Times (100 stores), and Blacks Leisure (98 Blacks & 208 Milletts). This will blight many high streets across the country, some of which still have empty Woolworths stores from 2008, as administrators struggle to find buyers.
A total of 42 retailers went into administration in Q4 2011 for an annual total of 183.
"2011 was a tough year for retailers and unfortunately this trend is set to continue well into 2012," said Lee Manning, restructuring services partner at Deloitte.
He said many retailers banking on the busy Christmas period for a sales uplift were instead forced into discounting at levels last seen in the aftermath of the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.
"We are likely to see a further spike in retail administrations in Q1 2012 as retailers buckle under the pressure of VAT payments falling due, impending rent payments, the increased popularity of shopping online and the traditional decline in footfall as the attractive year-end sale offers come to an end," said Manning.
Tue, 24th Jan 2012