Achi news desk-
Founded in Glasgow in 1987, Ted Baker is now owned by US-based Authentic Brands Group (ABG). The UK license was held by No Ordinary Designer Label (NODL), which had around 975 employees across more than 80 stores and concessions before the closure announced yesterday.
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Eleven stores will close by April 19, Teneo said, resulting in the loss of 120 jobs. All 11 stores are currently loss-making and are deemed to have “no prospect of being returned to profitability, even with significant rent reductions”.
“Therefore, it is believed that their closure is a constructive and necessary step to ensure that the business can achieve a profitable trading performance in the future,” administrators said.
The stores due to close within the next week include sites in Birmingham Bullring, Bristol, Bromley, Cambridge, Exeter, Leeds, Liverpool One, London Bridge, Milton Keynes, Nottingham and Oxford. At the same time, around 25 head office employees will also be made redundant in an attempt to cut central costs.
A further four stores will close “in the coming weeks” after landlords put the sites on notice before insolvency, with around 100 more jobs being lost as a result. There are two in London, one in Bicester, and one in Manchester Trafford.
Although it is named as “Ted Baker, London” with the majority of outlets in England, the business was founded in Glasgow in 1987 by former chief executive Ray Kelvin. Mr Kelvin resigned in 2019 amid allegations of inappropriate behaviour, and the company has since encountered a series of financial difficulties that have left it less prepared than many to cope with the impact of the Covid lockdown restrictions.
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New York-headquartered clothing and entertainment company ABG agreed a £211m deal to buy Ted Baker off the London Stock Exchange in August 2022, after which it licensed its UK operations to NODL . A similar license for Europe was held by Dutch group AARC, which has been blamed for putting the UK business into administration.
When NODL went into administration last month, ABG said the “damage done” was “too much to overcome”. This is said to have included a failure by AARC to deliver on its promise to inject cash into UK business.
“Despite our tireless efforts, the damage done during a period under AARC when NODL had accumulated a significant level of arrears was too much to overcome,” said ABG chief strategy officer John McNamara at the time.
“We wish to see a better outcome for Ted Baker’s employees and stakeholders. It is hoped that customers will be reassured that NODL will continue to trade online and in stores.”
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In January, Ted Baker closed its Glasgow flagship store in the Princes Square shopping center after 36 years of trading, directing customers to its nearby store in Buchanan Street which remains open.
ABG is currently in the process of finding a new operating partner for the retail and e-commerce businesses in the UK and across Europe. Teneo said store closures are not expected to hinder that process.
“Ted Baker is an iconic British brand with strong partners around the world,” said Benji Dymant, co-administrator, “The closure of these stores, while having an unfortunate impact on valued team members, will improve the performance of the business, being [ABG] continues to develop discussions with potential operating partners in the UK and Europe for the Ted Baker brand to bring the business back to health.”
He added: “We would like to thank the Ted Baker team members and partners for their continued efforts and support at this difficult time.”
