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Retail Update - February 2018 |
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Posted At: 20 February 2018 17:15 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail Statistics, Retailers |
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The start of 2018 has been a rocky one for retail.
• Restaurant insolvencies increased by 20% in 2017 with 984 entering administration, up from 825 in the previous year, according to accounting and advisory network Moore Stephens, who also said the last 10 years have seen an “unprecedented” level of openings creating an “over restauranted” market
• January saw a raft of closures among both casual dining and independent restaurants, including a CVA of Jamie’s Italian and Byron and the administration and subsequent closure of Square Pie
• The latest figures from the Coffer Peach Business Tracker show Britain’s managed-pub and restaurant chains saw collective like-for-like sales 0.6% ahead in January despite widespread doom and gloom
• Similarly, nearly a fifth (19%) of clothing retailers in the UK are showing “early warning signs” that they are at risk of going insolvent, according to Moore Stephens. Out of 35,078 fashion retailers, 6,580 were found to show early signs of financial distress, such as a large fall in revenue or poor payment history
• According to the latest data from Kantar Worldpanel, total physical entertainment sales dropped 8.8% in the 12 weeks to January 14, with video dragging down the average with a 21% drop. Physical music sales also saw a decline of 5.8% but the resurgence of vinyl sales helped offset the decline - now accounting for 10% of physical music sales
• Sales across UK retailing have been largely flat in January, the latest ONS figures show
• Ecommerce saw a slowing in growth from 19.1% this time last year to 9%, accounting for 16.5% of all retail sales, down from 18% in December
• According to the annual ‘Shopper Stock Take’ report from Shoppercentric, shoppers are adjusting their buying habits – over a quarter (26%) of UK shoppers report having noticed prices increasing a lot, while 56% say they have seen small spikes. Consumers primarily put these increases down to the state of the economy (54%) and Brexit (50%), although the exchange rate, cost of ingredients and ‘greedy’ companies are also blamed by a fair proportion of shoppers
What remains to be seen is how the rest of the year pans out – FSP and SnapShop are on hand to keep you up-to-date and provide assistance to you and your centres.
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Retail Update - June 2017 |
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Posted At: 16 June 2017 11:39 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retail Statistics, Retailers |
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May was a month of change on the high street. German womenswear brand Basler fell into administration; Joy was bought out of administration by its owners in a pre-pack deal; and Edinburgh Woollen Mill acquired the Jaeger name. Additionally, Edinburgh Woollen Mill embarked on a new department store concept, Days, which launched in a former BHS store in Carmarthen.
Household spending growth slowed in May as British shoppers selectively cut back purchases, as the rise of inflation threatens living standards. According to Barclaycard figures, spending was up 2.8% on the year, which marked the slowest rate of growth since last July. The British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) study of shops’ sales found growth slowed to 0.2% on the year, a substantial slowdown from the strong Easter spending in April.
The BRC’s Online Retail Sales Monitor also found that e-commerce sales grew at their slowest rate for more than four years in May. Online sales of non-food products grew by 4.3% in May – down from 13.7% a year earlier and at its lowest level since the BRC analysis started in December 2012. The three-month average stands at 7% – also the lowest the BRC report has yet recorded.
This slow-down both online and on the high street in May could have been the result of a pre-election and pre-Brexit blip. However, according to the long-running and closely-watched GfK Consumer Confidence Index, consumers’ confidence in May stood at -5, two points up compared to -7 in April, suggesting that this isn’t the case.
Interestingly, Payments UK – the trade association for the payments industry – has forecast that debit cards will overtake cash as Britain’s most frequently used method of payment by 2018 thanks to the rise in contactless cards. Worldpay, which handles 40% of all UK card transactions, said that spending on all forms of contactless systems now accounts for 28% of all non-cash transactions in the UK, with total spend exceeding £10b for the year in 2016.
However, the Bank of England’s chief cashier and director of notes has said cash payments were “very much alive and kicking” and that contactless and electronic payments were not a threat. Victoria Cleland highlighted how technology has had a “huge impact”, with ways to pay including digital currencies, mobile payments and innovations such as contactless cards gaining “real traction”. But contrary to predictions of the eventual death of cash, Cleland said “if we dig further, it is clear that cash is very much alive and kicking”.
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Retail Update - May 2017 |
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Posted At: 19 May 2017 16:32 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, General, Retail Statistics |
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Following on from the administrations seen in March, April saw one high-profile retailer fall – that of Jaeger. Administrators announced the closure of 20 stores and the loss of 253 jobs shortly after Easter, and as yet, a buyer has not been found for the chain.
The high street benefitted in April from the late timing of Easter as evidenced by the figures from the Office for National Statistics. UK shoppers bought 2.3% more in April than they did in March. On an annual basis sales grew by 4%, helping to buoy the economy after a weak March - retail sales in the three months to April were up 0.3% compared with the previous three-month period. This suggests shoppers are not cutting back despite rising inflation, which climbed to its highest level in three and a half years to 2.7% in the 12 months to April, driven by the fall in the pound and consequent increase in the cost of imported goods.
E-commerce sales also grew by 19% in April, with shoppers collectively spending £1bn a week online during the month - accounting for 15.6% of all retail spending, excluding automotive fuel. That’s up from a 14% share last year.
Not surprisingly, footfall was also up in April. Figures from the British Retail Consortium and Springboard’s retail footfall monitor reveal that footfall in high streets was up 2.3% while footfall in retail parks climbed by 2.7%. However, footfall in shopping centres edged down 0.6%.
Continuing the Easter effect on the high street, figures from the Coffer Peach Business Tracker show that managed pub and restaurant groups were back in growth in April, with collective like-for-like sales up 4.4% compared with the same month last year.
In other news, the surge in openings of low-cost fitness clubs has driven gym usage in the UK to a record high. Memberships last year rose from 9.2 million to 9.7 million, boosting penetration from 14.3% to 14.9%, equivalent to one in seven people. According to the 2017 State of the UK Fitness Industry Report, the number of fitness facilities grew by 4.6% to 6,728 in the 12 months to the end of March. The number of budget gyms passed 500, with the sector now accounting for 15% of the market’s value but 35% of private sector memberships. The value of the market as a whole is estimated at £4.7 billion, up 6.3%, with the sector set to reach several milestones in the next 12 months: £5 billion by value, 7,000 gyms and 10 million memberships. All of which is good news for those involved in finding innovative use for retail space.
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Retail Update - April 2017 |
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Posted At: 26 April 2017 10:20 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailers |
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March saw three high profile retailers hit the buffers:
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Agent Provocateur – subsequently bought by Four Marketing through a pre-pack deal
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Brantano
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Jones Bootmaker – the majority of its business was subsequently sold to private equity Endless, which acquired 72 stores as part of the deal
According to insolvency firm Begbie Traynor, almost 23,000 retailers reported significant financial stress in the first three months of 2017 as cost pressures continue to mount. Further administrations have been predicted by the firm, which has reported a 4% rise in retailers under financial strain compared to the same period last year.
The ramifications of the business rates reforms, announced last month, have yet to be fully felt in the industry. Mixed with increased price competition, a weak pound, dwindling consumer spending and a rise in minimum wages, analysts expect a 'large number' of retailers to fail in the coming months.
However, it is not all doom and gloom on the high street.
A record number of overseas tourists travelled to Britain during the first two months of 2017, up 6% on the same period last year, according to new figures published by VisitBritain. The 5.2 million visits also resulted in a record spend of £2.7b in January and February, a year-on-year increase of 11%.
London’s luxury market was also boosted by a momentous return of Russian visitors and Americans’ surge in interest for British luxury in the first quarter of the year. International tax free shopping data for London Luxury Quarter, which covers Mayfair, St James’s and Piccadilly, showed growth of 39% in the period. In addition, Russian visitors’ tax free shopping spend rose by 88% in March while American spend grew by 116% year-on-year.
Online continues on its steady upward trajectory, with UK shoppers spending £1bn a week online in March - 19.5% more than they did in the same month last year. That total accounts for 15.5% of all retail spending, excluding fuel, during the month, and contrasts with 13.6% a year ago, according to the Office for National Statistics’ Retail Sales report for March 2017. However, consumers are getting harder to please when it comes to online shopping (see FSP View).
It will be interesting to see what the next few months have in store for retail and consumers, as we head towards a general election. Whatever happens, SnapShop will keep you up to date with the latest news.
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Retail Update - December 2016 |
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Posted At: 16 December 2016 12:40 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailers |
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As we rapidly head towards the end of 2016, it has been pleasing to see that no administrations have been recorded on SnapShop since our last update.
November was the month for Black Friday – see our previous blogs – and the start of discounting as retailers geared up to capture the all-important Christmas spend. In fact, recent research from Deloitte has found that for the sixth consecutive year, consumers are enjoying bigger pre-Christmas discounts than they did in the previous year. Analysis of over 300,000 products currently for sale in the UK reveals that discounts are currently averaging 43.3% - some 1.5% deeper than at the same time last year.
Despite all the discounting, retail footfall in November edged down 1% on the same month last year following a 0.9% drop in October, and retail sales only edged up 0.6% year-on-year. and GfK’s Consumer Confidence Index dropped 5 points to -8. As has been seen throughout the year, the leisure industry has remained resilient and November was no different - like-for-like sales in managed pub and restaurants grew by 1.1% against 2015, with London providing the biggest increase.
London has been a talking point as it remains an attractive destination for new UK retail entrants. According to new research from CBRE, over 75 new retail entrants opened in London in 2016, with the prime streets in Mayfair and Chelsea proving to be a magnet for luxury brands.
Interestingly, a new report has predicted that travel hubs will be the most favoured location for new stores in the coming year. (0912) This doesn’t come as much of a surprise to FSP, when new figures have shown that like-for-like retail sales at Network Rail managed stations grew by 3.5% from July to September. This equates to total sales of over £166 million, up from £160 million in the same period last year.
What remains to be seen is how retail will fare for the remainder of the year and who will be the winners and losers over the festive season. SnapShop will bring you all the news on this in January.
In the meantime, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
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Retail Update - November 2016 |
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Posted At: 18 November 2016 00:29 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailers |
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Since our last update, SnapShop has recorded three administrations:
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Betta Living appointed administrators as rising rents pushed the company into a loss, and put pressure on cash flow
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American Apparel in the UK called in administrators from KPMG. The failure of two American Apparel UK companies, American Apparel (UK) Ltd and American Apparel (Carnaby) Ltd comes as the US company is being sold. The UK operation, along with some European parts of the business, is not part of the sale
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Bakery chain Cooplands collapsed into administration after its CVA failed, and was subsequently acquired by Cooplands Retail Limited, formerly associated with the same directors as Alison's Coffee Shop, which had traded as Cooplands since its initial administration last year
Despite what some would see as doom and gloom on the high street in terms of the rise in administrations reported over the past two months, and the news that Gap’s Banana Republic fascia is exiting its store presence in the UK, October’s retail sales grew at their highest rate since April 2002. Coupled with strong online growth throughout the month and backed up with GfK’s Consumer Confidence Index, the trend for buying now seems set to continue as we head towards Black Friday and Christmas.
Indeed, with many retailers now having launched their festive campaigns to entice shoppers and the grocers heading into battle over toy price matching schemes, it will be interesting to see if the big four can reclaim some lost ground over the discounters as we head towards the end of the year.
In other high street news:
With the crazy Christmas season upon us, FSP will be monitoring the news closely to see who is making a success of the latest retail evolutions.
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Retail Update - October 2016 |
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Posted At: 20 October 2016 16:45 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailer At Risk, Retailers |
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Since our last update, bakery and catering company Peyton and Byrne has gone into administration following the loss of contracts at London’s Kew Gardens and the British Library. The bakery business has been sold as a separate entity to Peyton and Byrne Bakeries Limited, a new business owned by the Peyton family, and its five existing public catering contracts have been sold as part of a pre-packaged sale to foodservice company Sodexo.
As seen in August, September has painted an equally rosy picture on the high street:
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Data from IMRG Capgemini’s eRetail Sales Index shows that September’s online performance topped off a strong quarter, with the Index recording the highest quarterly growth at 17% since the first quarter of 2014
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According to the latest Coffer Peach Business Tracker, consumer spending on eating and drinking out continues to hold up post-Brexit, with managed pub and restaurant groups reporting collective like-for-like sales up 1.8% in September against the same month last year, with those outside the M25 reporting bigger increases than those in the capital
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Consumer confidence rebounded to pre-Brexit levels in September, with GfK’s long-running Consumer Confidence Index increasing by six points this month to -1 (30/09)
In other news from the high street:
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The UK stationery market is set to rise by 2.4% to around £2.1 billion by 2021 according to research from Verdict Retail
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Consumer confidence rebounded to pre-Brexit levels in September, with GfK’s long-running Consumer Confidence Index increasing by six points this month to -1
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The post-Brexit crash in the value of the pound means that the UK is now the cheapest market in the world for luxury goods according to research from Deloitte
And finally, Mintel predicts UK Christmas sales will rise 2.5% to £42.2bn this year but this depends on retailers’ approach to the all-important Black Friday. It will be interesting to see the strategies surrounding what has become one of the most important festive shopping dates on the calendar, something we at SnapShop, will keep you up-to-date with.
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Retail Update - September 2016 |
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Posted At: 20 September 2016 10:54 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retailers |
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No administrations have been reported since our last update; in fact many retailers seem to be announcing ambitious expansion plans along with those making their debut in the UK such as Australian retailer Typo.
August has been a pretty buoyant month for retail;
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Data from the Office for National Statistics has shown that sales dipped by 0.2% in the month, indicating that the EU referendum result have had minimal impact on consumer confidence. The ONS said that the underlying pattern for the retail sector over a longer period remained “one of solid growth"
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Figures from the IMRG Capgemini eRetail Sales Index revealed that online sales grew fast in August, with shoppers spending £9.8bn over the internet. That’s 16% more than in the same month last year
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Glorious summer weather has seen pubs outperform restaurants according to figures from the Coffer Peach Business Tracker, which saw like-for-like sales across managed pubs and restaurant groups grow 0.6% in August, following on from 0.3% growth in July. According to the analysis of sales at 34 firms, pubs saw like-for-like sales up 1.2% compared to a 0.4% decline in casual-dining sales
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GfK’s Consumer Confidence Index rose by five points in August to -7, after dropping by the fastest rate in 26 years in July following the Brexit vote
In other news from the high street;
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According to the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) annual Payments Survey, cash was used in less than half of all retail transactions across the UK last year, with the use of cash falling to 47.15% of all retail transactions in 2015, compared to 52.09% in 2014.
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The Spotlight: Retail Revolutions report, published by Savills and intu, has revealed that shoppers in Newcastle and Birmingham spent more on fashion over the last 12 months than those in any of the UK’s other major cities, with an average spend of £304 and £313 per head respectively. Meanwhile, shoppers in Bristol spent the least, at just £184 per head
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Cushman & Wakefield's UK Shopping Centre Development Report forecasts that new retail space from shopping centre openings and revamps will reach a four-year high in 2017. More than 2.7m sq. ft. of additional floor space is under construction and due to open next year.
All things point to the fact that – for the time being at least – consumers in post-Brexit, pre-exit UK are still willing to spend, with retailers still expanding and evolving to meet the changing needs of their target market, and shopping centres are still being built. Perhaps the death of the high street has been exaggerated, as some recent reports have suggested. FSP aims to keep you up to date with all of the latest news from the high street.
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Retail Update - July 2016 |
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Posted At: 21 July 2016 16:16 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail Marketing, Retailers |
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A lot has happened since our last update – 52% of the UK decided we would be better off out of the EU; BHS has started closing stores as no buyer has been found; Taking Shape has shut all UK stores and appointed a liquidator to its UK subsidiary; My Local fell into administration; and, Store Twenty One is looking to close 82 stores having had its CVA approved.
Brexit has certainly ruffled feathers throughout the UK as a whole. GfK ran a one-off Brexit special online with 2002 respondents between 30th June and 5th July 2016, in which GfK’s Consumer Confidence Barometer core Index fell 8 points to -9. All of the key measures used to calculate the Index fell. This long-running survey dates back to 1974, and there has not been a sharper drop than this for 21 years (December 1994). It will be interesting to see how this Index fairs over the coming months as plans start to emerge surrounding the future of the UK and our position in Europe.
In other news, over 30 new towns have applied to Business in the Community’s programme to revitalise high streets, including Falmouth, Falkirk, Barrow-in-Furness, Huddersfield and Maidstone, bringing the total enrolled to 100. The programme, which launched in 2014, aims to increase footfall by 10%, reduce the number of vacant properties by 20% and stimulate the creation of new jobs.
A study of 30,000 consumers by British Land and Verdict has found that 89% of all UK retail sales in 2015 touched a store through physical sales, click & collect or online sales browsed in store. The research found that this boosts physical retail by 5% and further demonstrates how physical and online complement each other, something that we at FSP have always maintained.
Internet sales continue on the upward trajectory, seemingly unfazed by the Brexit decision. Shoppers spent 17% more online in June than they did at the same time last year, and IMRG said that it had so far detected only a short blip after the poll. While smartphone spending soared, growing in June by 69% year-on-year, sales made over tablets grew by just 0.4%.
Finally in environmental news, Oxford Street is set to be pedestrianised by 2020, with all traffic banned as part of mayor Sadiq Khan’s plans to tackle air pollution.
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Retail Update - June 2016 |
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Posted At: 16 June 2016 15:27 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail |
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Since our last update, Austin Reed has failed to attract a buyer and its entire physical portfolio will cease trading by the end of June 2016. BHS is heading down the same route in what has been a sad month for the high street.
Consumer confidence is still just in negative territory despite having increased two points since April, and far below the levels seen last year. Brexit is playing a big part and given that the important EU referendum takes place next week on June 23rd, we await to see what impact this has on confidence.
May saw the contribution of online to overall sales grow as that of stores fell, suggesting a movement away from in-store shopping as more than a fifth of UK retail sales took place online in May for the fifth month in a row. Retailers saw growth in all categories online.
However, the percentage of online retail sales made through tablets and smartphones fell in the first quarter of 2016, the first decrease since etailing association IMRG’s records began in 2010. Just under half of online retail sales were completed through mobile devices during the period, down from 51.3% in the fourth quarter of 2015.
With the rising use of contactless payment methods, it comes as no surprise that debit cards are poised to overtake cash as the UK's most popular payment method in five years' time, the payment industry's trade body Payments UK has forecast. Current rates of growth indicate there will be 14.5bn payments made on debit cards in 2021 compared with 13bn cash payments. Cash usage will continue to decline past this date to account for just over one in four payments by 2025. The data showed that cash currently remains the most popular payment method in the UK, accounting for 45% of the 38bn payments made last year.
It will be interesting to see if online continues to outpace the high street, and how retailers respond to the changing retail landscape. SnapShop aims to keep you up-to-date with all of the news and latest in shopping habits.
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Retail Update - May 2016 |
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Posted At: 19 May 2016 17:13 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailer At Risk, Retailers |
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Since our last update, when BHS and Austin Reed Group had negotiated CVAs, both have now succumbed to administration. Although both have attracted a lot of interest, no announcement has yet been made regarding the future of these iconic brands.
Consumer confidence has also taken a bit of a knock since our last update, falling back into negative territory, as consumers show concern regarding Brexit and the wider Eurozone crisis. It will be interesting to see if this figure remains stable as we approach the EU referendum.
With the recently released Android Pay in the UK, data from the UK Cards Association has revealed that monthly contactless spending in the UK has reached a record high. A whopping £1.508bn was spent through contactless payments in March. This figure, despite security concerns surrounding contactless, looks destined to rise as the choice of options continues to grow for consumers.
As online continues to grow, footfall continues to decline, down 2.4% in April , following a 2.7% decline in the previous month. High streets saw the biggest decline with footfall down 4.7%, while shopping centre footfall edged down 0.7%. Retail parks, however, saw an uplift of 1.1%.
Interesting data from the Publishers Association was released in April that revealed sales of print books are rising for the first time in four years, while eBook sales were down for the first time since the e-reader hit the shelves. Total sales of book and journal publishing were up to £4.4bn in 2015.
In the same way, according to the latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel for the 12 weeks to 10 April 2016, physical stores are taking customers back from e-retailers in the physical entertainment sector. The figures found that high street and grocery stores accounted for 69.8% of sales, compared to 67.5% the previous year.
These are both significant to the retail industry as the battle for online against physical retailing heats up, and demonstrate that although online is clearly an important strategic market for retailers, consumers still want (and need) that ability to physically be able to enter a shop and feel and see the product in their hands before buying.
You can keep up to date with the latest consumer trends and shopping habits here on SnapShop.
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Retail Update - April 2016 |
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Posted At: 21 April 2016 16:00 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailers |
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With the CVAs of Beales and BHS approved last month, April saw Scottish independent Xile Clothing fall into administration and subsequently rescued by JD Sports-owned Tessuti.
Austin Reed Group – which underwent a CVA last year to shed stores and restructure its operations – was acquired by Alteri Investments, having appointed advisers to find a way forward for the struggling chain almost a year to the day it’s CVA was approved.
All is not doom and gloom on the high street though. Consumer confidence – although possibly starting to reveal Brexit fears – is still positive and the average house price continues to grow, reaching over £200,000.
A new initiative aimed at making UK high streets some of the most digitally enabled in the world has launched, starting with pilots in Cheltenham and Gloucester. The digital high street programme is led by Home Retail Group chief executive John Walden and supported by businesses including IBM, Boots UK, Google, Lloyds Banking Group and Facebook. Additional locations already carrying out limited digital initiatives elsewhere will be included in the project, with the aim of launching the high street digital hub nationally in spring 2017.
Online continues on its steady growth path, with Mintel research revealing that nearly half of all British grocery customers shop online, with over 11% never visiting brick and mortar stores. Not surprisingly, total online sales grew by 11% in March, with smartphone sales growing by 101%. Sales via tablets were up by only 6%, the IMRG Capgemini eRetail Sales Index showed.
Interestingly, a survey of Co-operative Group shoppers has revealed that 65% of shoppers from a sample of 2,000 it interviewed thought they would only need a mobile phone to pay with by 2025. As it stands, two-thirds of all transactions at The Co-op stores are still made using cash, despite the Co-op being the first retailer to roll-out contactless payment points in 2014.
You can keep up with all the latest trends on SnapShop.
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Retail Update - March 2016 |
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Posted At: 29 March 2016 00:27 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail Statistics, Retailers, Store Closures |
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The past month has seen a bit of turmoil on the high street, although no administrations have been recorded on SnapShop.
BHS proposed a CVA at the beginning of March which was subsequently approved this week to enable it to reduce rents in 40 loss-making stores as it looks to continue to trade through its turnaround plan.
Beales also filed for a CVA at the beginning of March for 11 of its 29 stores, seeking a rent reduction of 70% on 11 stores for 10 months while it negotiates with landlords. The other 18 stores – including its flagship in Bournemouth – are unaffected.
Recent weeks have seen plans to extend Sunday trading hours rejected by MPs, meaning that all will stay the way it has been on the high street. Many see this as a victory, while others see it as a disappointment. FSP can see both sides of the coin, and we wonder whether this is something that will be addressed again in the future as we move further into the digital world.
With the news that Google is bringing Adroid Pay to the UK soon, Barclaycard research has shown that contactless spending in 2015 soared by 188% in pubs and bars. The category experienced the third biggest rise in 'touch and go' transactions over the past year behind public transport (532%) and pharmacies (207%). Contactless spending in fast food outlets was also up 108%. Restaurants witnessed a 104% increase and caterers, ranking 10th on the list, saw a 96% uptake in the speedy payment method. This is definitely something to watch in the coming months.
Another addition to the ‘ones to watch’ list, is that a wave of American retailers is predicted to cross the pond and use London as a launch-pad into European expansion. Research from BNP Paribas has forecast that brands such as Michael Kors, America Eagle Outfitters, Henri Bendel and Tory Burch, as well as new market entrants, will be among the US retailers drawing up expansion plans, seeking to capitalise on the buoyant consumer environment in the UK.
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Retail Update - February 2016 |
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Posted At: 24 February 2016 00:42 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retail Property, Retail Statistics |
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No administrations have been recorded on SnapShop since our last update.
Brantano, which was placed into administration in early January, was acquired by its former owner Alteri Investors in mid-February. Some 58 stores and concessions were not included in the Alteri acquisition. It will be interesting to see what happens with this retailer in the future, as it seeks to become more of a multichannel player with a slimmed down store portfolio.
The high street doesn’t seem to have been affected by the so-called ‘January Blues’ this year; indeed UK retail sales surged the most in more than two years in January, boosted by demand for clothing and computers. Pub and restaurant groups have continued their strong growth seen last year, with collective like-for-like sales in January up 1.9% on the same month last year, according to latest figures from the Coffer Peach Business Tracker.
A rather notable trend that emerged from 2015 was the soaring sale of gift cards. Figures from the Gift Voucher Shop, the company behind the One4all Post Office Gift Card, revealed a 35% increase in sales, online sales via One4allgiftcard.co.uk saw a 60% increase compared to 2014, and gift card orders for rewards and incentives via the corporate division, One4all Rewards, soared by 47% on the previous year.
According to the data, fashion retailers saw the largest value of One4all Gift Card redemptions during the 2015 Christmas period and overtook general merchandise stores which were number one in 2014.
FSP will be watching with interest as new trends emerge in 2016. Our understanding of retail helps our clients make informed investment, development and asset management decisions.
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Retail Update - January 2016 |
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Posted At: 26 January 2016 10:40 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailers |
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Since our last update Christmas has come and gone and we have the first retail casualty of 2016 – Brantano. Having been loss-making for a number of years, Brantano’s demise was not unexpected. Macintosh Retail Group sold Brantano and sister company Jones Bootmaker to Alteri in November 2015 who subsequently appointed advisers to look at options for the chain.
Similarly, and a little more of a surprise, was Blue Inc’s announcement that it was putting its subsidiary A Levy Ltd into administration and closing 74 stores to restructure the business for profitable growth.
It remains to be seen what will happen with either of these retailers – and indeed if any others will succumb to administration – but SnapShop will bring you the news as it is reported.
2015 was a good year on the whole. Consumer confidence increased in December and the whole year showed positive scores for the first time in its history; London welcomed a record number of international tourists last summer with more than 5.2 million visits between July and September; and pub and restaurant groups continued their strong growth – the underlying long-term trend shows that like-for-like sales for the whole 12 months of 2015, up to the end of December, were ahead 1.5% on 2014.
It will be interesting to see what trends 2016 will bring and how our high streets will fare.
Indeed, a new proposal from Fragmented Ownership to revive shrinking high streets has launched following the release of data that shows footfall in the UK’s town centres is continually declining. Fragmented Ownership, a group of property experts and investors, argues that town centres need "investment zones" run by a single body that would be able to offer a package, rather than a disparate collection of shops. Let’s see if this latest revival plan manages to achieve something where others have failed.
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Retail Update - December 2015 |
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Posted At: 17 December 2015 16:24 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailers |
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December has again been quiet on the administration front with nothing recorded on SnapShop.
Rumours have been flying around concerning the future of BHS, but with their recent high profile appointments we will be keeping a close eye on them as Retail Acquisitions continues to turn the chain around.
The news continues to focus on last month’s events surrounding Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Manic Monday and the fact that many retailers are firmly now in Sale mode for the remainder of the year as they continue trying to entice shoppers into their stores. However, Mintel has predicted a 4% rise in retail sales to surpass the £42.5bn mark in December.
Interestingly, research by Allegra World Coffee Portal has forecast that the UK's coffee shop market will be worth over £15bn by 2020 with over 30,000 outlets. Its findings show that sales at the UK's 20,700 coffee shops grew 10% in the last year to £7.9bn. In the past year customers are estimated to have drunk 2.2bn cups of coffee out-of-home. Costa topped the sales chart with an estimated 169m cups sold.
Business rates are another focus of the news, citing significant increases in bills when the review happens in 2017. Research from Colliers International suggests that 76 of the UK's main towns and shopping centres will see an increase in their business rates bill, with some parts of London seeing an increase of more than 400%.
What will happen remains to be seen, but this, along with the implementation of the National Living Wage, is sure to be playing on retailers’ minds.
Lastly, nearly two in three British towns have seen their numbers of pubs, bars, restaurants and clubs rise or stay the same in the last year, the latest edition of the licensed trade’s Market Growth Monitor from AlixPartners and CGA Peach has revealed. This is good news as the festive season is in full swing, helping to breathe life back into UK town centres.
You can keep up-to-date with how retailers fare over the festive period on SnapShop as the all-important rent quarter day rears its head again.
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Retail Update - November 2015 |
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Posted At: 20 November 2015 16:30 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailers |
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October has been a fairly quiet month in terms of administrations, with the exception of Garage Shoes which underwent a pre-pack administration saving jobs and stores.
Not surprisingly much talk recently has been about the impending Black Friday next week and what retailers plan to do with it. See FSP View for our thoughts on this particular shopping day.
The general feeling this month is that things are improving on the high street and throughout the country. The British Retail Consortium is predicting that festive sales will see a healthy growth compared to last year. It’s not just the UK that is seeing an upturn, Retail Ireland is forecasting that Irish retailers will have their best Christmas in seven years following an increase in consumer sentiment.
Consumer confidence has remained in positive territory throughout 2015 in contrast to the loss reached between mid-2007 and early 2014 when the recession was at its height. It will be interesting to see if it remains this way in the run-up to Christmas and in the New Year.
The eating and drinking out market seems on a never-ending course of growth. Collective sales for managed pub and restaurant chains were 2.5% up against October 2014. This level of growth is perhaps unsurprising given the recent JLL report that reveals F&B operators have doubled the amount of floorspace they take in shopping centres over the last ten years.
The plans to relax Sunday trading laws could be knocked off course by the Scottish National Party who intend to vote against them over fears it could drive down wages in Scotland. Not everyone is on board with the plans, both retailers and members of parliament, although from the press it seems like the government is keen to pursue this.
It has been interesting to read that the Healthy High Streets scheme, which launched last year and is backed by a group of the high streets’ leading retailers, has been deemed a success in its first year. Perhaps lessons can be learned from the initiatives implemented and introduced in other areas to help revive further ailing high streets.
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Retail Update - October 2015 |
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Posted At: 22 October 2015 15:32 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail |
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Although there have been no recorded administrations on SnapShop again this month, all is not necessarily well on the high street. Quiksilver and American Apparel, who both filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US, have secured new financing packages enabling them to exit bankruptcy and restructure their operations ; and, Sports Direct and Direct Golf are currently locked in a legal battle of ownership for the golf brand.
Concern is also rising over the proposed changes to Sunday trading laws, with a number of MPs opposing the relaxation of hours, and new figures from Bira have revealed that traditional independent retailers have closed more stores than opened them in UK town centres in the first half of 2015. There was a net loss of 144 independent stores (0.14%) across all sectors in the first six months of this year, compared with a net increase of 289 stores (0.28%) for the same period in 2014.
But it is not all doom and glooms. The latest set of figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal that retail sales rose by 6.5% in September year-on-year despite average store prices falling by 3.6%, and supermarket price wars have left the average household better off by £58 a year, according to Kantar Worldpanel.
Figures released by the British Retail Consortium and Springboard in their monthly footfall monitor show that retail footfall in September was 0.2% lower than the same month a year ago. The figures show that high streets and shopping centres experienced declines of 1.4% and 1.3% respectively. Despite the fall, this was best performance recorded by high streets for seven months.
Interestingly, the eating-out sector is booming, with the managed pub and restaurant groups recording steady growth throughout 2015, boosted by new openings.
The latest Barclaycard Consumer Spending Report found that consumer spending in pubs had risen by 11.6%, and restaurants by 12.6% between 23 August to 26 September, marking the sector's 26th month of consecutive double-digit growth.
Black Friday looms again next month, with shoppers expected to spend at least 30% more on Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year, compared to 2014. It will be interesting to see if this is realised and if retailers have learnt from their mistakes last year.
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Retail Update - August 2015 |
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Posted At: 21 August 2015 00:31 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail |
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There have been no recorded administrations on SnapShop since our last update. Many retailers are in fact embarking on expansion plans, both in the UK and abroad, to take advantage of an upturn in the economy, improving consumer sentiment and town and shopping centre redevelopments.
Research from Visa has revealed that spending by Chinese tourists in the UK increased by 45% in July compared to the same period last year after visa rules were relaxed at the start of the month. People from China spent £50m on Visa cards in the UK during July, overtaking French and Australian visitors to become the second highest spending tourists to the UK, according to figures from the credit card giant. Only Americans spend more while travelling in the UK than the Chinese, splashing £140m on Visa cards last month, up 16% on the year earlier.
With a number of retailers using pop-up shops to showcase new products or as a test-bed for opening a permanent store in a new location, it is interesting to read that pop-up retail is now worth £2.3bn to the UK economy and employs 26,000 people. According to Britain’s ‘Pop-Up Retail Economy’ from the Centre for Economics and Business Research, the report, commissioned by EE, found that pop-ups now account for 0.76% of total UK retail turnover, more than £200m in sales up on last year. The research reveals that the pop-up retail sector is growing at 12.3% largely due to a rise in the number of customers and an increase in average spend.
Britain’s F&B market continues to grow, with the latest figures from the Coffee Peach Business Tracker revealing that collective like-for-like sales for the managed pub and restaurant market grew 1.1% in July. The Tracker numbers show that total sales in July, which include the impact of new openings, were ahead 4.8% across the market as a whole. Within that, restaurant chains contributed a 9.2% total sales increase against July 2014, with a 12.3% increase outside the M25.
This trend is backed up by a report by Aviva, which shows an increasing demand for casual dining. Chains such as Nando’s and Giraffe are helping to revive regional high streets and shopping centres, whilst consumer demand for the likes of Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Strada and Carluccio’s remains strong and is set to continue to expand, reducing vacancy rates and pushing up rents in the UK’s high streets and shopping centres.
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Retail Update - July 2015 |
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Posted At: 23 July 2015 16:49 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailers |
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There have been no administrations recorded on SnapShop since our last update. In fact, much of the news reported recently has been very positive and concerns retailers across the spectrum announcing ambitious expansion programmes throughout the UK and abroad, and retailers making their debut in the country, such as Australian stationer Kikki.K looking to take on the likes of Paperchase.
Increasing retailer confidence is backed up by soaring consumer confidence in the UK, with GfK’s latest Consumer Confidence Barometer reaching its highest level in 15 years, rising six points in the month to 7. (30/06)
The general improvement in the UK economy is also evidenced by a 32% fall in retail administrations this year. According to research by Deloitte, (07/07) in the first six months of this year, 45 retailers entered into administration, compared with 66 in the first six months of 2014. This year’s figure is less than half the total of the 95 retailers that went into administration in the first six months of 2013, signalling much improved conditions on the high street.
The proposed changes to Sunday trading hours are hoped to bring about a similar effect on the UK high streets and boost the economy even more. They have been received well by many retailers, despite some independents having their concerns regarding competition. Research from the New West End Company, which represents 600 retailers in London’s West End, found that an extra two hours of trading on a Sunday would boost central London businesses by £260m each year and provide more than 2,000 additional full-time retail jobs. (17/07)
Interesting research from the British Retail Consortium has revealed that despite a slight decline in use, cash continues to account for over 52% of all transactions.(02/07) The study found that the average value of transactions across all payment methods fell again this year as shoppers become less reliant on large weekly shops and instead make more frequent visits to a wider variety of stores. It also reveals that UK customers are increasingly embracing non-traditional methods to pay for their shopping. The use of products other than cards and cash (payment via app etc.) has expanded six-fold over the last five years but still only represents a small proportion of the payments landscape. Given the launch of Apple Pay (13/07), which allows shoppers to pay for a wide range of goods and services with their phones, it will be interesting to see what changes are highlighted in next year’s research.
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Retail Update - June 2015 |
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Posted At: 18 June 2015 16:19 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail |
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There has been one administration since our last update – Sphere and Turret. After struggling with financial difficulties it was announced in May that all 16 stores across central Scotland had closed. No further news on this has been reported.
Although this year has been quiet so far on the administration front, figures from FRP Advisory reveal that over 700 shops were shuttered last year with the loss of almost 5,000 jobs as a result of high street retailers such as Phones 4u, Jane Norman and La Senza falling into administration. Just 42% of the 1,270 shops that fell into administration last year were rescued, up from the 35% survival rate for stores in 2013. Back in 2011 there was a 67% survival rate for stores that entered administration.
Following April’s highest level of consumer confidence since 2002, GfK’s UK Consumer Confidence Index for May showed a decline of three points to 1, suggesting that the public are “not too confident about economic life under the Conservatives”. It will be interesting to see what the Index reveals next month.
Internet sales continued on their upward trajectory, recording their second consecutive month of double-digit growth in May according to the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index. Total online sales increased by 10% year-on-year in May and by 2% on April.
Interestingly, UK retail accounts for 11% of global Internet retail sales, and the UK has the highest e-commerce spend per person of any country.
Online sales across the UK, US, Germany and China will grow by £320bn between now and 2018, increasing the value of the online market to £645bn, according to research by OC&C Strategy Consultants, PayPal and Google. Their research shows that Brits are currently spending nearly £1 in every £5 of their shopping via the web and the new survey suggests that ecommerce will continue to flourish. 59% of online sales are now through smartphones or tablets in the UK, in the US this number is 45% and in Germany it’s 24%.
According to Global Blue, international spend is back to strength for 2015 following a slowdown in growth last year, with London’s West End reaping the benefits. Spend in the West End is up 4% YOY to date, following a 3% YOY decline in 2014, as shoppers from top spending nations China, Middle East and South East Asia are shown to be spending over a third (38%) more in the capital’s top shopping district.
This is in contrast to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics for the year to April 2015 which noted a drop in tourists from regions including Europe, the Middle East and Russia and showed the UK’s earnings from international visitors fell 7% to £6.7bn during the year.
However, Global Blue is predicting a significant uplift in Middle Eastern spend across the UK as shoppers flock for the annual pre-Ramadan rush. The figures show that spend from Middle Eastern nations climbed by 43% year-on-year over the rush in 2014 and the trend is expected to repeat this year. Saudi Arabian shoppers are forecast to lead the surge with spending up by 28% year-on-year to date with the Qataris expected to follow.
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Retail Update - April 2015 |
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Posted At: 24 April 2015 11:00 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailers |
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Continuing the trend seen last month there have been no reported administrations on the FSP Retailer Database, signalling improved sentiment in UK shoppers. This is evidenced by GfK’s Consumer Confidence Index being at its highest level for almost 13 years at +4, having recorded a rise of eight points in just three months.
The timing of Easter this year has been credited with improving footfall across retail parks and shopping centres in a month that marked the best overall footfall performance since March 2014. In the same way, managed pub and restaurant groups also reported a much improved performance over the four-day weekend according to the Coffer Peach Business Tracker.
Not surprisingly, online sales have also grown with figures in the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index revealing growth of 9% year-on-year in March. This meant that the index recorded only single-digit growth for each month in the first quarter of 2015 which is the first time this has happened in any quarter.
According to a Barclays report, shopping on mobile devices is expected to hit £53.6bn by 2025, up from £9.7bn currently, with mobile to account for 42% of all retail sales. However, only one in five top 250 retailers around the world say they are able to fulfil cross-channel demand profitably, a report by PwC and JDA shows. The biggest challenge is to meet customer expectations, particularly over next-day delivery. The highest costs associated with omnichannel were handling returns from online and store orders (cited by 71% of respondents), shipping directly to the customer (67%) and shipping to the store for customer pick-up (59%). Nevertheless, most planned to invest an average of 29% of their total capital expenditures for 2015 on improving their omnichannel fulfilment performance, as 71% of respondents said omnichannel fulfilment is either a high or top priority for their businesses.
In other news, research by Strutt & Parker has revealed that the amount of committed shopping development in the UK has shot up 60% in the past six months, with a total of 5.1m sq. ft. now under construction. And research from Cushman & Wakefield has shown that Russia has overtaken France as Europe’s largest shopping centre market with total shopping centre stock climbed to more than 17.7 million m2 at the end of last year, overtaking France’s 17.66 million m2 of GLA. The UK followed Russia and France as Europe’s third-largest market with 17.1 million m2.
What remains to be seen is what impact the upcoming general election will have on consumer confidence and the UK economy as a whole, and if this upward trend of increasing positivity continues.
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Retail Update - February 2015 |
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Posted At: 25 February 2015 11:26 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retail Statistics, Retailers |
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FSP’s retailer database has recorded one administration since our January update, bakery retailer Cooplands of Doncaster. Cooplands underwent a pre-pack administration process which saw the closure of 39 stores and the loss of 300 jobs. ReSolve acquired the remaining 42 shops.
Given the trend for most retail failures to occur during the first quarter of the year, one administration in February isn’t bad going. We will wait to see what March brings.
Dubai-based vegetarian fast-food franchise Just Falafel closed down its UK operations this month following a change in the company’s overall direction and strategy worldwide, although the company has not ruled out a return to the UK market.
Highlighting the ever-changing ways consumers like to shop and the evolution of mobile commerce, the Banking Moving Forward study by Experian reveals that a third of the UK population believes that credit or debit card payments will no longer be the preferred method of payment in 2020 and that paying with smartphones will take over.
Continuing this increasing trend of mobile shopping, a study by Paypal and Ipsos has revealed that mobile shopping is growing at nearly four times the rate of overall online spending in the UK and is poised to overtake traditional online shopping. They predict that mobile spend will grow at a rate of 36% from 2013 to 2016, while overall online spend will grow by 10%. Smartphone shopping only accounts for 8% of online spend, while shopping on tablets accounts for only 6%. In comparison, laptops, desktops and notebooks together account for 86% of all online shopping.
Having been the topic of many discussions over the last year, and still rearing its head in the national press, recovery on the high street still "hangs in the balance" as a huge number of town centre leases approach expiry in the next few years, Deloitte has warned. Shop vacancy rates in the North were more than twice those in the South and the situation looks likely to be exacerbated by the vast number of leases that are scheduled to expire by the end of the decade with little prospect of renewal.
The latest British Retail Consortium and Springboard footfall monitor show that Britain’s high streets suffered a 1.6% fall in footfall in January as shoppers continued to turn to out-of-town locations, which increased by 1.5% compared to the same period a year ago. Shopping centre footfall also fell by 2.6%. The BRC said the rise was a sign of "strong" consumer confidence, as it suggested that more consumers were happier to splash out on big ticket items, particularly furniture, and is evidenced by a five point rise in GfK’s UK Consumer Confidence Index.
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Retail Update - January 2015 |
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Posted At: 28 January 2015 10:00 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailers |
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Since our last update, and indeed since the start of 2015, there have been two administrations recorded on SnapShop – Bank and USC – with Austin Reed announcing a Company Voluntary Arrangement and store closures.
Looking back over the past three years, the first quarter has been consistently the biggest period for retail failures, and it is believed that 2015 could see even more companies collapse:
There are several reasons why January is notorious for this - retailers who may have been struggling prior to the festive period will most likely have been given a period of grace to turn performance around. Banks and suppliers will be watching like hawks, poised to pull the plug if and when they sense that hasn't happened. The quarterly rent date occurs on December 25, and VAT is due on January 31, meaning it is a particularly punishing time for cash flows.
December on the whole marked a positive end to 2014 despite having seen its slowest month of growth since 2008. Figures from the BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor show that retail sales edged up 1% on a total basis. Sales on a like-for-like basis, however, were down 0.4% as Black Friday pulled forward some festive sales into November.
New figures from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index revealed that online sales grew by 14% to £104 billion in 2014. The figures also show that annual online spending broke the £100 billion barrier for the first time. For 2015, IMRG and Capgemini are forecasting growth of a further 12% with total online sales estimated to be worth £116 billion by the end of the year. In the eight weeks to 27 December, UK shoppers spent £21.6 billion on gifts and bargains which was 13% more than the same time last year.
Global Blue has revealed that international spending from tourists in the UK reached the highest level on record for December in 2014, breaking the previous year’s record by rising a further 11% on the 40% year-on-year increase seen in December 2013.
Further highlighting the success of 2014, research by CBRE revealed that investment in UK shopping centres had reached its highest level in nine years. In 2014, £5.6bn of investment transactions were completed in the UK shopping centres, an increase of 33% on the £4.2bn transacted in 2013 and well above the ten-year average of £4bn per annum. 2014 saw some landmark transactions with the largest deal being Land Securities’ £656m purchase of Lendlease’s 30% stake in Bluewater.
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Retail Update - December 2014 |
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Posted At: 18 December 2014 15:12 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retailer At Risk, Retailers |
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With Christmas fast approaching, it is pleasing to note that other than Mexx – which had very little UK presence left following financial troubles in 2008 and has now been declared bankrupt – no administrations have been recorded on the FSP Retailer Database since the demise of Phones 4U in September. However, Austin Reed teeters on the brink, having appointed Deloitte to work on a strategic review of the business after it made a £1.29m loss in the year to January 2014. Owner Darius Capital Partners is thought to be in discussions with the auditor over a company voluntary arrangement.
Confidence has certainly showed a marked improvement since Christmas 2013, with research by IGD forecasting that spending on Christmas food and drink will increase by 1.2% this year to £20bn. The study also stated that £1bn will be spent via online; that £1.5bn will be spent via discounters, and that only three out of 10 consumers are planning on doing a traditional ‘big Christmas shop’.
Supermarket price wars have continued to intensify over the course of the year, with Aldi and Lidl making record market share gains as the traditional ‘big four’ grocers battle to keep afloat and attract consumers.
November saw the fastest month-on-month growth in online sales in the 14-year history of the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index, rising by 37%. Year-on-year, online sales increased by 20% to mark the biggest growth rate in 2014 so far. The figures show that in the year-to-date online retail sales are up 15% and following a strong start to December with Cyber Monday, this figure is expected to reach 16% at the end of the year. Overall, an estimated £12.1 billion was spent online in November, with an average basket value, excluding travel, of £78, attributed in the main to this year’s Black Friday sales success – sales were up 44% in the week commencing 23 November alone, compared with the previous week.
Staying with the online growth trend, the numbers of click-and-collect orders are forecast to surge by 49% over this year’s Christmas period according to Barclays research, representing a rise of 5.7 million consumers.
In other news, Hereford's multi-million pound retail complex - The Old Market - has been crowned as the UK's best new shopping centre at the BCSC Gold Awards, London is to see more than 10m square feet of retail space in new developments with new shopping centre sites including Croydon, Battersea and Earls Court and extensions at Westfield London and Brent Cross malls helping to accelerate the supply of new stores, according to the latest Colliers Central London Retail Health Check report.
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Retail Update - November 2014 |
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Posted At: 21 November 2014 00:59 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail |
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No administrations have been recorded on SnapShop since our last update, although it has emerged that the demise of the former mobile phone retailer Phones 4U will cost the UK taxpayer £78 million.
The UK is currently gripped in a frenzy of releasing Christmas advertising campaigns as each retailer vies for customer spend, with some even deciding now is the right time to launch their very first. This is most evident in the grocery sector as competition between the ‘big four’ and the discounters continues to increase.
However the grocers try to entice shoppers, it doesn’t detract from the fact that the UK grocery market has fallen into decline for the first time in 20 years, causing some concern in the sector in the lead-up to the crucial festive trading period. According to Kantar Worldpanel sales for the 12 weeks ending 9 November fell 0.2%.
Waitrose chief Mark Price has said that the ‘big four’ could be forced to start closing doors as the industry enters its most radical phase of change since the 1950s. Analysts of Goldman Sachs agree, saying that the biggest British retailers must shut one in five of their outlets in order to survive.
There is however, positive sentiment among retailers that this Christmas will be better than last year’s. According to a Barclays’ survey of 300 UK retailers, nearly 70% believe Christmas will bring better trading than last year owing to an improving economy and healthier year of trading. This compares with 52% of retailers last year who were positive on that year of Christmas trading.
This sentiment is supported by a new study by eBay and Conlumino, which predicts that UK high streets will receive a boost this Christmas due to shoppers making three additional shopping trips each to collect parcels bought via Click & Collect. It also predicts that the average Click & Collect high street visit will drive £27 in spontaneous spending back in to bricks and mortar retail units this Christmas as three quarters of shoppers will buy additional goods and services on impulse while out collecting parcels.
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Retail Spotlight: Phones 4 U |
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Posted At: 22 September 2014 00:24 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retailer At Risk, Retailers |
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Founded in 1987 by the Caudwell Group, Phones 4 U was the UK's fastest growing independent mobile phone retailer with more than 690 stores across the UK and Northern Ireland, and an online shopping facility. On 26 September 2006, the business was sold for a sum of £1.46 billion to private equity firms Providence Equity Partners and Doughty Hanson, before later being sold on again to BC Partners in 2011.
It was announced last week that Phones 4 U is the latest high street name to succumb to administration. Looking more closely, it seems that while the major mobile phone retailer was still a profitable business, with turnover of £1bn and underlying profits of £105m last year, losing key contracts with EE and Vodafone meant that the company could no longer operate.
So, this is an unusual retail administration situation. We’ve taken a look back at the trading history of Phones 4 U, to see how the brand evolved.
On 17th September 2014 - it was reported that Dixons Carphone offered to hire the 800 people who work in Phones 4 U concessions at its Currys and PC World stores after Phones 4U went into administration two days beforehand.
15th September 2014 - Phones 4 U fell into administration after loosing their key contract with EE, soon after losing Vodafone, announcing plans to close its 550 stores
8th September2014 - Phones 4 U owner BC Partners started exploring new options for the retailer following Vodafone’s decision to not renew its contract with the firm.
4th September 2014 - The ratings agency, Moody’s, warned clients that the mobile phone retailer was under review for a downgrade, because of its debts and the loss of the Vodafone deal.
2nd September 2014 - Phones 4 U revealed that network operator Vodafone would not be renewing its contract agreement, leaving them with only one mobile network partner - EE.
19th August 2014 - Phones 4 U announced it would be looking for over 100 new stores as it prepared to close its concessions in Currys, following the merger of Currys’ owner Dixons with Carphone Warehouse.
18th July 2014 - Phones 4U launched an ad campaign entitled ‘For the future you’, developed by adam+eveDDB. The campaign was designed to highlight the knowledge that Phones 4u can provide to customers in-store; helping customers choose a phone that suits them.
22nd January 2014 - Phones 4 U owner, BC Partners, started looking at options for Phones 4 U, including a float.
31st July 2013 - The Manchester Arena was renamed the Phones 4 U Arena after the brand agreed a five-year sponsorship deal.
22nd January 2013 - Phones 4 U launched a mobile network business called LIFE Mobile later in 2013 that used the 4G services being rolled out by EE across the UK under a wholesale arrangement.
12th November 2012 - Phones 4 U appointed Johnson Fellows to handle its UK store portfolio, consisting of more than 650 outlets.
8th October 2012 - Phones 4U recorded a rise in pre-tax profits from £87.6m in 2010 to £113.4m in the year to December 31, 2011. Sales rose from £746.2m in 2010 to £773.3m in 2011 driven by sales of high value smartphones.
This is not a typical retailer’s slide into administration, as we have seen in other cases such as with La Senza and Internacionale. Instead, what we’ve seen with Phones 4 U is how vulnerable many of our retailers still are, whether it is obvious or hidden beneath an apparently successful exterior. Until this year, Phones 4 U showed all the signs of a business coping with the competition and challenges of the current high street and in particular within the mobile phone sector. With a significant store portfolio, strong online offering, a concession deal with Currys and the launch of a new mobile network business – the signs were positive.
However, the loss of three significant deals in 2014 undermined that success with huge impact. Currys owner, Dixons’, merger with Carphone Warehouse in August saw Phones 4 U facing the end of their in-store concession deal with Currys; Vodaphone decided to not to renew their contract agreement at the beginning of September; and two weeks later 4G network operator EE followed suit, leaving Phones 4 U alone, and stuck. This goes to show how fine the line is between success and failure for our retailers, even as the economy continues to recover and our high streets to stabilise. Phones 4 U chief executive David Kassler summed it up: "A good company making profits of over £100m, employing thousands of decent people has been forced into administration."
The lesson to learn here is one of strategy and future proofing. As a facilitating business, Phones 4 U relied on their partnerships and without these they didn’t have a viable proposition. Even the most seemingly successful brands need a contingency plan.
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Retail Spotlight: La Senza |
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Posted At: 14 August 2014 00:57 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retailers |
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During its short trading life, La Senza had planned to expand its collection of stores, and elevate the brand to the ‘biggest, young fashion, lingerie retailer’. However, the company has dipped in and out of administration twice in the last three years, and, with no prospective buyers on the horizon, appointed administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers are attempting to sell the company to other retailers. Read on for FSP’s overview of the brand’s trading history and highlights of where the cracks started to show.
Reading into the details of this case, it seems that those with authority over the La Senza brand gave too much attention to planning its expansion, rather than concentrating on the offering available at its existing stores. At the end of 2013, La Senza placed a significant amount of investment into refurbishing existing stores, continuing to promote and expand the Pinkberry frozen yoghurt brand and seeking other brands to migrate to the UK marketplace, in spite of being placed into administration in the previous year. It appears that the company missed a trick to centre its resources on its existing assets, putting on hold its plans for the expansion of this brand and others.
On 18th July 2014 Drapers reported that more La Senza stores were due to close in the following few weeks, including the Bluewater, Brighton, Cambridge, Canterbury, Cardiff, Derby, Edinburgh, Kingston, Leeds Trinity, Maidstone, Northampton and Silverburn Glasgow branches. Although there had not been any formal redundancies made, it was thought that the closures would affect 130 staff in total. The company was expected to experience a gradual wind-down although administrators PwC were looking to sell the remaining stores.
16th July 2014- Since La Senza went into administration on 1st July 2014, 75 members of staff have been made redundant through the closure of 6 stores.
8th July 2014- Reports say PwC were looking at the sale of La Senza’s 55-store portfolio.
4th July 2014- 752 jobs were at risk due to the potential closure of 55 UK La Senza, and 3 Pinkberry sister stores.
3rd July 2014- La Senza was unlikely to sell as a whole, due to retailers competing to select its best stores. Alshaya UK, which bought the La Senza UK business in an all-inclusive deal in 2012, unsuccessfully tried to find a buyer early in the year.
1st July 2014- La Senza was placed in administration for the second time in two years. Theo Paphitis was interested in acquiring La Senza stores for his own brand, Boux Avenue to increase its profile.
14th February 2013- La Senza planned to double is store presence over the successive 5 years, with new look stores and a focus on the younger customer; aiming to become the UK’s biggest young fashion lingerie retailer.
21st September 2012- La Senza made a loss of £594,302, which was expected as this was the first period of trade.
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Retail Update - July 2014 |
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Posted At: 24 July 2014 16:41 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailers |
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Since our last update, another two retailers have succumbed to administration, and not for the first time:
- Jane Norman fell into administration for the second time in three years at the end of June. Owner Edinburgh Woollen Mill said Jane Norman would continue to operate through its website and internal concessions.
- La Senza fell into administration for the second time in two years having experienced difficult trading conditions. The North American operations and throughout the rest of the world remain unaffected by the actions taken in the UK.
What is interesting about the woes of these two retailers is that they were both acquired by their current owners by way of pre-pack administrations – a process that only last month underwent an independent review by Teresa Graham CBE which considered the full economic impact of the process and made six recommendations for reform by the insolvency industry. It will be interesting to see the fate of other retailers acquired in this manner over the coming months/years, and the effect this review of the process has on the industry.
July has seen three new retailers sign for their first stores in the UK – US luxury home furnishings retailer Holly Hunt, American pizza chain Project Pie and Spanish tapas operator Mas Q Menos.
GfK’s UK Consumer Confidence Index has moved into positive territory for he first time since March 2005. This mood is supported by Deloitte’s Consumer Tracker, which reveals that overall confidence was four points higher in the second quarter than the same period last year, with the North of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland recording a sharp rise of six percentage points from -25% in the first quarter to -19% in the second quarter of 2014.
New footfall figures from the British Retail Consortium reveal growing evidence of consumers changing the way they shop, as more people visited out-of-town destinations and fewer visited the high street or shopping centres in June.
Some interesting points have been raised over the past month in the retail industry that back-up the changing face of the UK high street, and include:
- The Key Note Report that estimates the UK sandwich and coffee shop market has grown by 34.9% in value from 2009 to 2013 as more consumers choose to ‘catch up’ over coffee rather than at the pub.
- The Pop-Up UK Study from the Centre for Economics and Business Research and EE has found that pop-up retail shops contribute £2.1bn a year to the UK economy, and currently make up 0.6% of total UK retail turnover. The sector is forecast to grow by 8.4% over the next year.
On a slightly separate note, but still talking about the future of the high street, Mayor of London Boris Johnston has announced a major new action plan – Action for High Streets – designed to boost London’s high streets. The plan includes up to £9m of funding being made available from the autumn.
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Retailer Births and Deaths: Q2 Update |
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Posted At: 15 July 2014 00:34 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retailers |
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Which new names have we seen join the UK’s retail market and which retailers have fallen into administration over the last quarter to June 2014?
We’ve seen new retailers across the growing market of Food. From drive-through coffee to wine bars, there’s a lot of new names to learn in the F&B sector at the moment as international brands make their UK debuts or new retailers start up. In the ever more competitive grocery arena, discounter Netto joins the lower end of the market alongside the likes of Aldi and Lidl – which can only mean more pressure for those squeezed in the middle, like Tesco. Fashion is another sector seeing a trend of new names – a sign of growing consumer confidence as widespread terror over the state of the economy fades?
Four retailers have fallen into administration in this quarter, across fashion, TV and home furnishings. The trend is clear: those retailers who aren’t adapting to the changing shopping climate in the UK are struggling and won’t survive the competition.
In some cases, like for Paul Simon, a large part of the problem was failing to adopt an effective online offering – with their transactional website inefficient and not cost-effective. When their stores were hit by a drop in sales as a result of the flooding this year – having a strong web presence could have helped balance things out. As it was, they couldn’t weather the storm. In other cases, the problem lies fundamentally with the in-store offering as with Jane Norman. The fashion retailer has struggled for several years in the challenging and competitive sector, finally succumbing to administration for the second time in three years due to lack of a turnaround in-store, although its website will likely continue trading.
Ultimately it comes down to ‘customer experience’: both online and in-store – you can’t ignore either channel anymore – creating a unique and positive experience for your shoppers is imperative.
Let’s look at the Q2 births and deaths in more detail…
April
A balanced month: in April we saw two retailer births, while two fell into administration…
IRO
Who they are: IRO is a French young fashion brand, operating across the USA, Europe and the UAE, positioned in the upper-middle sector of the market. It currently operates concessions within department stores in the UK, including Selfridges, Harvey Nichols and Harrods.
What’s happening: IRO will make its standalone store debut this summer with the opening of a flagship store in West London. Cushman & Wakefield have been appointed to find more suitable locations around the capital as the brand looks to expand further.
In the news:
o IRO to open flagship store in Brompton Cross
Soupe du Jour 
Who they are: Soupe du Jour is a new restaurant and take-away concept, co-founded by Charles Paillé de Rivière and Daniel Auner. It offers a range of traditional fresh soups with a modern twist, and is positioned in the middle of the market.
What’s happening: The brand opened its debut outlet in London’s Soho in April and is aiming to expand further, with Shelley Sanderz, who secured the launch site, looking to identify further ones.
In the news:
o Soupe du Jour opens debut outlet
Paul Simon 
Who they are: Established in 1990, Paul Simon is a home furnishings retailer, which at its height operated over 50 stores across London and the Home Counties as well as an online shop.
What’s happening: In April Paul Simon fell into administration due to issues with its online offering and the floods earlier this year which hit in-store sales. Deloitte, appointed administrator, initially said the company would continue to trade while a buyer was sought, but later announced the closure of 17 stores by the end of the month. In May, Lewis Home Retail acquired seven Paul Simon stores, while eight others were closed – followed by the announcement that the remaining 22 stores would also close by mid-June.
In the news:
o Paul Simon to close all 22 remaining stores
o Lewis Home Retail acquires seven Paul Simon stores
o Deloitte to close 17 Paul Simon stores
o Paul Simon falls into administration
Sit-up TV 
Who they are: Founded in 2000, Sit-Up TV is a television retailer with three auction-style shopping channels: bid.tv, price-drop.tv and speedauction.tv. In its earlier years it appeared in The Sunday Times 'Fast Track 100' list as the fastest growing large company in the UK and for two consecutive years it was named in the Financial Times’ 'Top 50 Creative Businesses' list.
What’s happening: In April, Sit-up TV collapsed into administration after seeing a significant drop in sales at the end of the first quarter. Its TV channels Price Drop and Bid TV have both ceased transmission, with its online shop also closing and over 200 employees losing their jobs.
In the news:
o Sit-up TV enters administration
May
A quieter month: in May one new retailer emerged…
Muzz Buzz 
Who they are: Muzz Buzz is an Australian drive-through coffee concept, currently operating 60 stores across Australia. Hand-made coffee is served fresh to drivers alongside a full ‘food to go’ offering, with stores designed to be easily accessible and highly efficient.
What’s happening: The UK company, a joint venture with the Australian parent, is planning an ambitious regional roll out across the country, with initial expansion focused in the Midlands and the first units set to open there this year. The chain is eventually looking to open up to 200 stores across the UK, which comes as they are also looking to expand their Australian store portfolio to more than 200 over the next five years.
In the news:
o Muzz Buzz plots UK regional roll-out
June
An exciting month: in June five new retail names entered the market and two faced administration…
Stradivarius 
Who they are: Stradivarius is a womenswear retailer, focusing on young individual fashion, which currently operates in 60 countries worldwide, including Ireland.
What’s happening: The brand is set to open its UK flagship store at Westfield Stratford City before the Autumn, following the successful launch of a UK e-commerce site last year.
In the news:
o Stradivarius to open debut UK store at Westfield Stratford City
Humble Grape 
Who they are: Founded in 2009, Humble Grape is an independent wine merchant and tasting event group, specialising in high-quality boutique wines from small, family-owned vineyards and wines imported directly from France, Italy, Spain and Australia.
What’s happening: In June, Humble Grape announced plans to expand onto the high street and open 60 franchised “experimental” wine bars by 2020. The first will be located in London’s Shoreditch, with a wine bar and retail offering aiming to enhance the customer experience through technology.
In the news:
o Humble Grape to become 'Starbucks of the wine world'
La Sala 
Who they are: La Sala is a Spanish restaurant-bar operator positioned in the upper-middle range of the market, making its debut in the UK ahead of plans for wider expansion here.
What’s happening: In June it was announced that La Sala had secured its first UK site on the Chigwell Road in London – it’s first venture outside of Spain. A second location, possibly in west London, is under consideration while further sites are still at planning stage.
In the news:
o La Sala secures debut UK site
Netto
Who they are: Netto is a discount supermarket founded in Copenhagen and operating across several European countries. The chain has operated in the UK before: between 1990 and 2011 Netto operated across the country, but in 2010 sold their entire UK store portfolio to Asda, which re-branded all stores to the Asda fascia by the end of 2011
What’s happening: Last month, Netto’s return to the UK in a joint venture with Sainsbury’s was announced, with 15 trial Netto stores expected to open here by the end of next year. They are targeting an area of the North of England for the comeback, with the first store planned to open there before the end of 2014.
In the news:
o Netto outlines area for 15 trial stores
o Netto appoints UK marketing director
o Sainsbury's launches joint venture with Netto
Open
Who they are: Open is an own-brand value fashion concept from JD Sports Fashion Plc, announced in January this year. Prices are expected to be similar to H&M, New Look and Primark, and the clothing range will be more fashion forward compared to JD Sports’ sportswear. This is not the first time JD has pushed the Open fascia; fingers crossed it works well this time.
What’s happening: The first Open stores are set to open in various locations across the UK in September.
In the news:
o JD Sports to launch first Open stores in September
Jane Norman
Who they are: Founded in 1952, Jane Norman is a womenswear retailer focusing on young fashion, operating 65 stores and concessions in the UK as well as having an international presence through franchises and concessions. Jane Norman fell into administration in June 2011, before Edinburgh Woollen Mill rescued 31 stores.
What’s happening: In June it was announced that the struggling retailer had fallen into administration for the second time in three years – with store closures looking inevitable, although its website and international concessions look likely to continue trading.
In the news:
o Jane Norman falls into administration for second time in three years
Lakeland Leather 
Who they are: Lakeland Leather is a womens and menswear retailer, which has traded since the mid-1960s when it opened its first store in Ambleside and now has 22 stores across the UK, including a number of factory outlets and an e-commerce platform.
What’s happening: In June Lakeland Leather collapsed into administration, which the retailer blamed partly on the mild winter which saw sales of certain product ranges struggle. With over 200 jobs at risk, it is understood that a deal may be in place to try and rescue some of the stores, although four have already closed.
In the news:
o Lakeland Leather calls in administrators
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SnapShop Monthly Summary - June 2014 |
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Posted At: 19 June 2014 11:48 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail |
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SnapShop recorded one administration in June – Lakeland Leather. Following sales being affected by low demand over the mild winter, Lakeland appointed McTear, Williams and Wood as administrator. It is understood a deal may be in place to rescue the stores, but four have already closed.
In contrast, four retailers have secured or opened their debut UK stores signalling their confidence in the UK market – Dutch value retailer Hema, US fashion retailer American Eagle, women’s fashion brand Stradivarius, and Spanish casual dining concept La Sala.
The growing confidence in the UK economy is backed up by GfK’s Consumer Confidence Barometer, which revealed that UK consumer confidence in May rose to its highest level since 2005, climbing three points to zero. GfK said the main driver of the increase was people’s assessment of the general economic climate.
In contrast to this, the UK economic recovery was dealt a blow after figures showed retail insolvencies have hit an unexpected five-year high in 2013, when almost 1,300 retailers were declared insolvent – a 12% year-on-year increase – as rapid expansion of the supermarket convenience store format drove the UK’s corner shops and traditional small retailers to the brink, according to accountancy firm Wilkins Kennedy.
Shop prices also deflated 1.4% year-on-year, the same rate as recorded in April, making May the thirteenth consecutive month of deflation according to May’s British Retail Consortium (BRC) Nielson Shop Price Index. Prices have been kept low as food retailers compete in the price war and non-food retailers keep value-for-money at the forefront.
Figures, however, from Kantar Worldpanel for the 12 weeks to 25 May 2014 reveal a slowdown in grocery market growth to 1.7% - the lowest level for at least 11 years – as supermarkets' heavy use of price cuts and promotions fail to encourage consumers to buy and spend more. According to latest figures from Nielsen for the four weeks ending 24 May, consumers spent 0.9% less money and bought 2.1% less volume at the UK's leading supermarkets than the same period a year ago.
Cost and convenience have driven a marked shift in grocery shopping across the globe, with consumers significantly more likely to make frequent, smaller grocery shopping trips, as opposed to one large weekly shop, according to new research from leading customer science company dunnhumby.
Figures from the British Retail Consortium's Online Retail Sales Monitor show that online sales of non-food products grew by 17% during May when they accounted for 18.7% of all UK retail sales. The fast growth came against a background of more subdued high street spending, the accompanying BRC KPMG Retail Sales Monitor showed. Total UK retail sales grew by 2% in May, compared to the previous year, while like-for-like sales were up by only 0.5%. Not surprisingly, footfall in May was 0.2% down on a year ago, marginally down on the 0.1% year-on-year fall seen in April, and below the three-month average of a 0.6% increase.
Looking to the future of the UK high street, leading retailers and businesses are to give their support to 29 towns in the latest stage of high street rescue efforts, that will see extra teams parachuted in and provide strategic management through the Healthy High Streets campaign led by Business in the Community and DCLG. The project aims to reduce vacancy rates by 20%, boost footfall by 10% and create 3,000 new jobs. A hundred towns are to be supported by the campaign over the coming three years.
The government has announced that pre-pack administration arrangements will be subject to greater scrutiny, having accepted recommendations made by regulation expert Teresa Graham, who was commissioned to carry out a review of pre-packs by business secretary Vince Cable last summer. The business minister Jenny Willott said today the government would introduce a range of voluntary measures, with a view to legislating at a later date “if necessary”. Last year 2,365 businesses in the UK went into administration. Of these around 600 were subject to a pre-pack deal.
Additionally, the government has issued a response to concerns raised over the health of the UK retail sector, saying it has:
• Launched a discussion paper encouraging business ratepayers to give their views on how business rates can be improved, and it is also “considering the frequency of [rates] revaluations”
• As of March 2014, the 27 Portas pilots have spent 54% of their grant funding, with a further 29% of funding committed to spend. It added: “Many pilots are still delivering their work programmes, the government would rather that the pilots spent the money in the most effective way, than rush spending to meet an arbitrary deadline.”
• In response to BIS’ lack of industry strategy for the retail sector: “Retail is a large and diverse sector with businesses of all sizes in fierce competition. Government therefore must avoid interventions that could have adverse consequences.”
Whether these proposed changes turn the fortunes of our ailing high streets around remains to be seen, but you can keep up with all the news regarding the future of retail here on SnapShop.
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SnapShop Monthly Summary - May 2014 |
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Posted At: 22 May 2014 15:49 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail Statistics |
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Consumer confidence continues to improve, as evidenced with a 6.2% rise in UK retail sales during April according to ONS figures, in which some £28bn was spent over the course of the month. UK online sales grew by 13.3%, suggesting that the wider consumer recovery remains on track. The rise in sales comes after a footfall decline of 0.1%.
There were no reported administrations on SnapShop during May, however administrators at Internacionale have confirmed the business will be wound down. It’s a similar story at Paul Simon, where administrators have announced that the remaining stores will close by mid-June following a restricted level of interest from potential purchasers.
On a brighter note, Hereford’s 310,000sqft Old Market scheme opened its doors at the beginning of May. Old Market is the only significant retail development to open this year, and is the first major development in Hereford for 25 years.
Annual spending by overseas visitors is predicted to grow by 34% to over £27bn by 2017 in the UK, according to The Tourist Dynamics report from Barclays, indicating the resilience of the luxury goods market in the UK.
The continuing expansion of multiple operators and symbol groups in the convenience sector has led to a new analysis of the market being carried out by IGD and WRBM, the results of which reveal that the sector is expected to grow by more than 30% over the next five years, generating an additional £12bn in extra sales.
Finally, the BRC continues in its battle to tackle the issue of business rates, joining forces with representatives from the leisure sector and other high street businesses and manufacturers to strengthen its calls for the Government to reform the system. The BRC will publish the next phase of its work on business rates at the end of June.
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SnapShop Monthly Summary - April 2014 |
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Posted At: 29 April 2014 14:00 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailers |
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There were two reported administrations in April:
1. Paul Simon fell into administration after the recent flooding hit footfall and sales at its stores. Deloitte was appointed as administrator, and announced that 17 loss-making stores would close before the end of April.
2. Sit-up TV fell into administration following a significant drop in sales despite a recent approval of a Company Voluntary Arrangement with creditors. KPMG was appointed as administrator.
Following the collapse of Albemarle & Bond in March, it was announced that 128 stores had been bought out of administration by an investment group led by Promethean Investments.
Footfall in March was up 1.8% year-on-year according to Springboard/BRC data, with high streets recording a 2.6% increase, out-of-town locations up 3% and shopping centres recording a 0.5% decline. This footfall decline in shopping centres has not deterred investment, with research by DTZ revealing that UK shopping centre investment transactions totalled approximately £1.3bn – comprising 13 shopping centres – during the first quarter of 2014.
Whilst footfall was up, March’s retail sales were down 1.7% on a LFL basis due to the late timing of Easter, with total sales declining 0.3%, according to the BRC KPMG Retail Sales Monitor.
UK online sales were up 7.1% in March YoY according to ONS and up 1.4% when compared to February. With research by Planet Retail revealing that the number of UK shoppers using click & collect is set to more than double from 35% to 76% by 2017, e-commerce grows ever stronger.
In April it was announced that the Healthy High Streets campaign - a new coalition of government, retailers and business leaders - aims to create 3,000 new jobs on UK high streets, boost footfall and reduce vacancy rates. The campaign will initially focus on 100 towns and will build on the review carried out by Mary Portas.
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SnapShop Monthly Summary - March 2014 |
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Posted At: 27 March 2014 11:35 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retailers |
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Two administrations have been reported on SnapShop since February.
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Pawnbroker Albemarle & Bond appointed PwC as administrator after its lenders told the board they were unable to support the turnaround plan for the business, which was hit by the falling price of gold last year leading it to report large losses. All stores will initially remain open while a buyer is sought for the business.
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As reported last month, Internacionale did succumb to administration with the appointment of PwC. It had been hoped to keep all stores open while a buyer for the business was sought, but as of March 24, eight stores had been closed with the loss of 91 jobs.
Shopper confidence is improving on the high street, as shown by IGD research which reveals confidence is at a three-year high. Confidence has increased most rapidly outside London, with 20% of northern shoppers saying they will be better off this year compared to just 8% in 2011. Shoppers still remain cautious, however, embracing ‘savvy shopping’ habits developed during the recession.
Next month will see the roll-out of pop-up shops across Old Street, Piccadilly Circus, Baker Street, and St James’s Park tube stations as Transport for London uses its vacant retail space for new purposes.
Figures from the British Independent Retailers Association and LDC reveal that 44 independent shops opened every day in 2013 as small businesses replaced contracting big chains, which closed an average of 16 shops a day.
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Retail Spotlight- Internacionale Collapses into Administration |
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Posted At: 04 March 2014 13:15 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retailers |
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Despite previous plans to expand the brand’s awareness and consumer reach, Internacionale have officially gone into administration after months spent battling closures across the UK, with PwC appointed as administrators. Read on for Snapshop’s overview of the brand’s trading history and highlights of where the cracks started to show.
At SnapShop we wonder if the struggling retailer has focused too much energy into plans for expansion, at the expense of developing its offering in existing stores. From early 2013, despite news of redundancies and store closures, the brand was still promoting its plans to expand in the UK and overseas. Perhaps an opportunity was missed to pause these plans and instead concentrate on ensuring existing stores and retail offering were right.
On 28th February 2014 Internacionale went into administration, appointing PricewaterhouseCoopers to handle the process. Despite Internacionale’s bosses’ attempts to implement a turn-around strategy for the brand, shareholders made the decision to enter administration early due to continued poor trading and increasing debt pressures. Around 1,000 jobs are under threat currently and suppliers of the retailer have been counting potential losses, totalling what is understood to be £12m for unsecured creditors.
Administrators have said that they are looking to keep the retailer trading for as long as possible and, while there is no guarantee that staff, suppliers and landlords will be paid for debts, PwC have said that any new contracts agreed will be honoured.
24th February 2014- Internacionale filed to appoint administrators.
23rd February 2014- Internacionale were poised to file for administrators to be appointed, due to bailiffs arriving at stores over unpaid rent and rates.
17th February 2014- It was revealed that over a third of their staff were made redundant, including several head office staff, in an attempt to cut costs and save the business. It was also revealed that one store in Swansea had been closed. Speculation mounted over the retailer’s future.
2nd August 2013- Internacionale bosses fought to keep stores open for the run-up to Christmas, arguing that the surge in sales could save the struggling brand.
15th July 2013- Internacionale went on a mission to find rent-free spaces and negotiate cheaper rates from landlords in order to be able to keep staff and stores open.
12th July 2013- Internacionale were bought out after threatening to fall in administration. As a result however, eight stores were closed and 1,550 staff had to be transferred or offered redundancy pay.
25th June 2013- Internacionale teeters on the brink, filing a notice of intention to appoint administrators.
19th June 2013- Plans were unveiled for a full store re-fit at Crawley’s County Mall, as part of wider initiative to increased brand awareness and appearance among customers.
22nd April 2013- Despite redundancies earlier in the month, Internacionale bought a new unit at St. Stephen’s Shopping Centre in Hull as part of an expansion plan.
9th April 2013- Against the background of expansion plans, this is when the cracks initially started to show for the brand, as eight redundancies were announced with members of Internacionale’s buying and merchandising team losing their jobs.
21st November 2012- Internacionale signed a 10-year lease for a bigger unit at The Centre at Livingston, as part of the previously mentioned wider initiative to expand.
9th November 2012- Internacionale announced their new TV advertisement launch. News also confirmed that 150 stores were to be opened in the UK and branches overseas were planned by March 2013.
29th August 2012- Internacionale’s second launch for their e-commerce site took place, as a development of the first website launch.
24th July 2012- Internacionale posted their business review, outlining that 15 stores had been opened, but four of the weaker stores were closed, resulting in an increase in trading figures. Plans for expansion were also outlined.
17th July 2012- Internacionale joined Festival Place and announced new store plans to offer clothing for girls aged 8-15 years.
3rd May 2012- Internacionale launched their first e-commerce website.
SnapShop subscribers can view Internacionale’s retailer profile, related news, accounts and historical financial standing, by visiting Retailer Directory.
Subscribe to SnapShop to stay up-to-date with retail administrations and receive the latest retail news. Register for a free trial of the service and to receive an information pack here.
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Differentiating the best |
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Posted At: 08 January 2014 11:51 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail |
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With a prophetic touch, FSP’s Christmas commentary this time last year ended with “Undoubtedly as more results are published, we will see the strength of those who already recognise that bricks & mortar are as much a support for the online process as profit centres in their own right.”
John Lewis and House of Fraser are crediting an overall increase in sales to online purchases, so it seems the only way is mobile. Interestingly, with like-for-likes up for both retailers, people must be topping up when they collect (although this could be more to do with the obfuscation surrounding like-for-like calculations)
One wonders what sort of doldrums Debenhams might be in without their online sales increasing by 27% in the 17 weeks to December 28th, and contributing 15.6% of their overall sales figure. They’re obviously just playing on swings and roundabouts, with clicks benefiting at the expense of bricks. Or are they just suffering from the squeezed middle whilst House of Fraser benefits from its designer names?
Next, on the other hand, despite also focusing on the middle of the market, is no longer plodding along, ending the year with such a performance that it has raised its profit forecast
These have been the high profile stories so far, so what of the rest? There was a general consensus that Christmas 2013 would be better. With last year’s comparable time finding Christmas Eve on a Monday, with the consequence of last minute shopping before that day being squashed into a mere six hours, achieving something better this year should have almost been inevitable. But some retailers got cold feet and started discounting before Christmas. Did this give them the boost in sales they wanted? Or was it a desperate ploy from those falling further off the pace with each passing day? After all, if you bagged a bargain before Christmas, might you now not be bothered with “sale” shopping again?
We believe that trust has played a big part this Christmas. Shoppers like retailers they can trust to deliver their online purchases, trust that what they have clicked can be collected and trust that the retailer will not renege on the deal by discounting early and devaluing their prized Christmas purchase before true sale time.
John Lewis, House of Fraser, Next and Jigsaw, didn’t betray that trust.
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Retail Update – December 2013 |
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Posted At: 19 December 2013 10:17 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail |
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With Christmas fast approaching, the FSP database powering SnapShop shows us that December has been a bit gloomy, littered with administrations and store closures.
• Blockbuster administrator, Moorfields Corporate Recovery, has been unable to find a buyer for the chain. All stores are to close before Christmas.
• The wholesale arm of Aftershock London fell into administration. The retain arm trades separately and remains unaffected, although an offer for the wholesale arm is understood to have been made, which includes a stake in Aftershock London.
• FRP Advisory was appointed as administrators to Osborne Stationers and are hopeful of finding a buyer. The chain had been loss-making for a number of years.
• A-Wear was placed into receivership at the end of November, and all but four stores were closed. It has since begun closing its House of Fraser concessions as A-Wear looks to focus on its Irish retail operations.
• Barratts remains in administration, although it is understood that Pavers has made a rescue bid for parts of the business. December saw Barratts close stores throughout the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Rent quarter day looms in January and brings yet more doom and gloom to the retail industry. Figures from the Centre for Retail Research are warning of a 15% increase in insolvency levels during 2014, predicting that the number of companies declared as insolvent will rise when zombie retailers fail to pay their rent and VAT payments in January. The first quarter of 2014 will be make-or-break for many companies.
Whilst it is tough for some, it is a far rosier picture for many, with shopping centres such as Bluewater in Kent and Birmingham’s Bullring reporting record numbers of visitors through their doors, helped by the generous discounts and promotional events.
According to PwC, 64% of 100 high street retailers have advertised promotions over the last week, a slight reduction on the 69% seen last year. However, the level of discounts offered was higher, at 42% this year compared with 36% in 2012.
Online sales in November were up 20% on last year’s figure to reach £10.2bn, marking the first time the £10bn figures has been breached in a month. This was 30% up on October, and aided by Black Friday mega-discount deals.
Not surprisingly, given the growth in online, footfall declined 2.9% year-on-year in November, with high streets recording their worst fall since August 2012 of 4.2%.
It will be interesting to see how retailers perform over the Christmas period and in the New Year, and who succumbs to administration when the January rent quarter day falls. You can keep up-to-date with all the retail news and sales figures here on SnapShop.
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Retail Update - November 2013 |
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Posted At: 14 November 2013 16:13 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retail Property, Retail Statistics, Retailers |
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In spite of what seems to be a gradual recovery in the UK retail market, with shopping centre landlords planning extensions and refurbishments to their portfolios, retailers announcing ambitious growth plans both for the UK and abroad, and international retailers making their debuts in the UK – J Crew, Carven - November saw the demise of two high street names - Blockbuster and Barratts.
In the news:
• Blockbuster appointed Morrfields Corporate Recovery as it collapsed into administration for the second time in year. Failure to reach a licensing agreement with its former parent in the US hampered plans for a new digital platform to enable Blockbuster to compete in the online market. Despite the initial expectation that all stores would continue trading, 72 stores are now earmarked to close.
• Duff & Phelps were appointed as administrator to Barratts, as the footwear retailer succumbed to difficult high street trading conditions for the third time since 2009. Barratts had been looking to secure an emergency loan to help pay for stock in the run-up to Christmas prior to appointing administrators. It is hoped the business can be sold as a going concern, although store closures and redundancies have not been ruled out.
• Abercrombie & Fitch have announced that it is to close its standalone Gilly Hicks stores, including its five UK stores, in relation to its long-term strategic review. The Gilly Hicks brand will still be available to buy in Hollister stores and online.
• Cinemas are becoming an increasingly popular anchor for smaller, mixed-use developments as retail demand stalled in the last few years. Cushman & Wakefield have predicted that 60 new cinemas will open between 2014 and 2017. (Read More)
• Bicester Village has retained its ranking as Europe’s most productive outlet scheme according to the rankings from Magdus. Bicester Village has held this status since 2008.
• Online sales continue to grow month-on-month. Monday December 2 has been predicted to the busiest shopping day in the run up to Christmas 2013 according to IMRG Capgemini e-Retail sales Index, kick-starting two weeks of high sales that will help take online sales for the month of December to £10.8bn. The analysis also suggests that spending in the nine weeks covering November and December will hit £20.4bn.
November signals the beginning of the festive season, with retailers’ airing their TV ads and launching their range of festive treats in-store as they fight to win shopper spend. What remains to be seen though is the result of these campaigns and if they actually make a noticeable difference in the battle for shopper spend over the crucial Christmas trading period. Keep up-to-date with all things festive, and how the retailers fare, on SnapShop.
You can also register to receive SnapShop Monthly free for 3 months.
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Out With The Old; In With The Old |
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Posted At: 13 September 2013 00:00 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retailers |
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The recent news of Mostyns falling into administration for the second time less than a year after it was sold through a pre-pack deal, got the SnapShop team thinking about just how widely they have been used since the start of the financial crisis in 2008.
According to figures from the Insolvency Service, around a quarter of all administrations in 2011 were pre-packs. Around 85% of these were sold to parties, namely directors, already linked to the business.
Examples of retailers to use pre-pack deals over the past year include:
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Dreams which was acquired by Sun European in March this year in a £35m deal
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Internacionale was sold in a pre-pack deal to its former directors in July this year
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Walmsley Furnishings fell into administration for the second time in 18 months in November 2012 after a previously negotiated pre-pack deal failed to revive the business
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United Carpets was acquired by its holding company just hours after entering administration in October 2012
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Town Centre Restaurants immediately completed a sale to its existing management following the appointment of Zolfo Cooper as administrator in June 2012
It’s no wonder pre-packs are now one of the most controversial topics in UK business, with Mostyns and Walmsley Furnishings mentioned above both failing again after undergoing a pre-pack administration, and Internacionale now asking for rent concessions from its landlords in an effort to keep stores open until Christmas.
Supporters say pre-packs are a quick rescue of the company, securing jobs and providing a boost to the economy. On the other hand, critics argue that pre-packs often allow incompetent directors to resurrect their business through a buy-back, effectively “stitching-up” unsecured creditors to the business who lose out in the end.
Whether good or bad, the usage of pre-packs is rife throughout not just the retail industry, but the UK as a whole. It remains to be seen if there are actually any advantages to a retailer of the process, especially if the company fails not once, but two, three or even four times before the directors admit defeat.
Keep on top of the ever changing retail environment with SnapShop
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Retail Update - July 2013 |
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Posted At: 18 July 2013 11:15 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailers, Store Closures |
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Research by Deloitte shows that the number of retail administrations fell by 30% in the first half of 2013, with a reported 87 collapses compared to 124 in the same period last year. Since our update last month, this list now includes:
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Dwell appointed Duff & Phelps as administrators at the end of June, but was saved by its founder Aamir Ahmad who bought five stores and its online operations at the beginning of July
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Miss Sixty and Energie stores in the UK are to close after liquidators were appointed to the UK business. The nine closures include Westfield Stratford, Bluewater Shopping Centre and on Covent Garden’s Neal Street
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Ark fell into administration after June’s rent quarter day but was rescued by JD Sports almost immediately
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Modelzone appointed Deloitte as administrators. Having received no offers for the business, store closures and further redundancies are being proposed
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Nicole Farhi appointed Zolfo Cooper as administrators, who have received a large number of expressions of interest for the business
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Internacionale underwent a pre-pack administration by its former management team and resulted in the immediate closure of 18 stores
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Homebase has placed its Irish arm into examinership following poor trading in the country, and is proposing to close three of its 15 stores to put the business back on a sustainable footing. KPMG has been appointed as interim examiner which will provide protection for Homebase Ireland
In regeneration news, the third and last significant shopping centre and leisure development scheduled to open this year, has opened its doors. The 473,000sq ft New Square development in West Bromwich finally opened last weekend, after the opening was postponed from spring 2012 to July this year following delays in finalising third-party agreements with the adjacent Queen’s Square development. Primark and Tesco Extra anchor the scheme, other tenants include JD, Next, Arcadia and Bank. Figures show that nearly 100,000 shoppers flocked to the scheme during its first four days of opening.
In other news, the Commons Select Committee has announced that Mary Portas is to face questions by the Communities and Local Government Committee on her recent review into the future of high streets, Portas Pilots, Town Team Partners, and Bill Grimsey’s alternative review of high streets. The Committee also stated that the session with Portas “may inform a wider inquiry into the future of town centres later in the session”.
Following Portas’s review and the continuing demise of the UK’s high streets, alternative options for its future are being offered up. These include not only more engagement between LEPs and councils with their local retailers, but the revamping of historic buildings and more emphasis on the heritage of the local area are pointed out as key drivers of footfall and in attracting retailers. English Heritage points to Rotherham in Yorkshire which has seen a 6% increase in footfall since public funds were used to repair historic buildings. Some leading experts are calling for town centres to be shrunk, with the Government now proposing to turn retail units into housing as they intend to consult on the relaxation of planning regulations which would allow “communities to consolidate high streets”. With the ever increasing number of discount retailers and betting shops opening on our high streets, something – be it one of these proposals or a completely different idea - needs to be done to stop its demise.
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Retail Spotlight – Dwell ceases trading |
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Posted At: 21 June 2013 11:10 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailers, Store Closures |
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Following a cash-flow crisis and failed attempts to find a buyer or secure fresh working capital, Duff & Phelps were appointed as administrator to the furniture chain, Dwell.
SnapShop now brings to you an overview of the retailer’s trading over the years and highlights of the collapse.
To us it looks like a typical case of biting off more than you can chew – in the last two years the retailer opened over 9 new stores and had plans to open around a hundred or so more in the future.
Financial indicator, P2 improved marginally in 2011, but not to the extent of indicating sustainable health, whilst there has been no measurable return on trading assets in the past three financial years. The latest accounts showed an over-reliance on creditors, a shortage of working capital which may have inhibited sales and despite securing a significant level of refinancing, it’s possible that new store openings at high cost locations may have resulted in the final blow.
20th June 13 - Dwell closed all 23 stores and ceased trading both on the High Street and online with immediate effect - resulting in the loss of 300 jobs. Read more
13th June 13 - Dwell insisted that it is continuing to trade as usual, amid speculation that it is on the brink of administration.
7th June 13 - Future of Dwell was close to being decided after appointing Argyll Partners to explore option.
29th May 13 - Dwell appointed Argyll Partners to explore its options, including the possible sale of the business.
28th Feb 13 - The 52 week period ending 27 Jan 12 represented a successful period, with the company generating sales growth of +3.3% to £34.5m. During 2012, the company successfully opened six new stores, increasing the number of stores to 24, and these are already making a positive contribution to the company. The stores were in Guildford, Cardiff, Leeds, Lakeside Thurrock, Staples Corner (North London) and Birmingham (Bullring).
Key:
P2>175 – Very Strong
P2 >150 and <175 - Healthy
P2>125 and <150 – Fairly Healthy
P2>100 and <125 – Head Above Water
P2<100 – Very Worrying
14th Nov 12 - Dwell appointed Rebecca Cotterell as its new managing director, replacing founder Aamir Ahmad who stepped down from the role.
28th Aug 12 - Retailer appointed a Director of Multichannel as it seeks to improve its online offering.
1st June 12 - Dwell saw the scope for up to 100 stores as it looks for smaller, quirkier shops.
13th Dec 11 - Dwell agreed a lease on a store at St David’s shopping centre in Cardiff, which will be its first outlet in Wales.
18th Nov 11 - Dwell has bounced back into the black at an EBITDA level as sales grew in the year to January 28 despite a punishing big-ticket market.
2nd Nov 10 - Dwell signed up at Lend Lease's Touchwood shopping centre in Solihull.
3rd Sept 10 - Dwell set out a 33-store expansion plan after securing a £5m investment from a private equity firm.
SnapShop subscribers can view retailer profile, more historic news, accounts and financial standing over the years, by visiting Retailer Directory here.
To stay up-to-date with retail administrations, new retailer entering UK and news please subscribe to SnapShop online at any time or register to receive information packed newsletter for 3 months.
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Retail Spotlight – Republic collapses into administration |
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Posted At: 13 February 2013 15:37 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailers |
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Following the collapse of fashion chain Republic; we bring to you an overview of the retailer’s trading over the years and highlights of the collapse
What is interesting to note from the history below is that Republic moved from refreshing brand mix by bolstering team, introducing new up-market brands and expansion in April 2012 to appointment of restructuring specialist and ultimately administrators in February 2013 indicating ever increasing importance of clear goals and strategy.
13th Feb 2013 - Republic collapsed into administration – putting 2,500 jobs at risk. It suffered poor trading results in autumn and rapid decline in sales in late January. Administrators Ernst & Young immediately made 150 staff at its head office redundant. Retailer was still offering vouchers for sale on its website today. Read more
6th Feb 2013 - Chairman Andy Bond left the retailer
5th Feb 2013 – Retailer appointed restructuring specialists KPMG to help it shed some of its 121 stores
25th Jan 2013 – It was rumoured that Republic was looking to offload up to 40% of its store portfolio, with the closure of 50-120 stores, in order to reduce costs from loss-making locations
18th Jan 2013 – Retailer was seeking rental concessions from its landlords across the UK - to switch from quarterly to monthly rent payments for around 120 stores
12th Oct 2012 – For the year ended 29/1/2012 - sales were £177.0m for the full year (2011 - £181.2m), driven both by stores and online sales. It made an operating profit before exceptional items of £6.1m. Financial health indicator on SnapShop shows movement from Healthy in 2007 to Very Strong in 2010 to Head Above Water in 2012 posing high risk
Key:
P2>175 – Very Strong
P2 >150 and <175 - Healthy
P2>125 and <150 – Fairly Healthy
P2>100 and <125 – Head Above Water
P2<100 – Very Worrying
4th Oct 2012 – Retailer signed up for a 10-year lease for the 8,500sq ft unit GL11 at The Liberty Centre in Romford
10th Aug 2012 - Retailer was wooing higher-priced menswear brands as part of a move to reposition at a more premium end of the market
6th July 2012 - Republic stepped up its footwear offer with the launch of dedicated branded footwear departments in 25 of its larger stores
27th April 2012 - Savills has been appointed to advise Republic on its expansion and was understood to be looking for around five stores this year with a particular focus on the South East
16th Apr 2012 - Republic has appointed Fenwick buyer Les Dales as brand manager for external brands, replacing Scott Macrae
9th Mar 2013 - Republic’s new chief executive Paul Sweetenham plans to differentiate the fashion chain from its more sportswear-led competitors with a stronger trend-led brand mix
23rd Feb 2012 - Republic hired former TK Maxx boss Paul Sweetenham as its new chief executive
SnapShop subscribers can view more historic news, financial standing over the years, by visiting Retailer Directory here.
To stay up-to-date with retail administrations, new retailer entering UK and news please subscribe to SnapShop online at any time or register to receive information packed newsletter for 3 months.
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Retail Spotlight – JJB collapses into administration |
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Posted At: 01 October 2012 17:32 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail |
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Following the collapse of JJB Sports; we bring to you an overview of the retailer’s trading over the years and highlights of the collapse
1st Oct 2012 – Administrators KPMG have been called in after JJB collapsed into administration, leading to the closure of 133 shops and 2,200 job losses. They sold 20 JJB stores, the brand and the website to Mike Ashley's Sports Direct for £24m, saving 550 jobs in the UK, including staff at the company's warehouse. For more information click here.
This doesn’t come as a shock to us as it had been anticipated by FSP’s retailer at risk – a multi-layered approach, earlier in July 2012.
27th Sep 2012 - Sports Direct announced to buy 60 stores from JJB Sports in a transaction that will safeguard up to 1,500 jobs
24th Sep 2012 - JJB Sports shares suspended as the struggling sports clothes and equipment retailer prepares to call in the administrators
20th Sep 2012 - sale of JJB Sports was marred after HM Revenue & Customs launched a multi-million pound tax investigation
14th Sep 2012 - JJB Sports Plc was in talks with several parties who have offered to buy it but ordinary shareholders were unlikely to see any value from a deal
13th Sep 2012 - speculation that retailer would not be able to meet quarterly payments due on September 24 were quashed so quarter-day obligations will not be fundamental to JJB’s future
30th Aug 2012 - retailer put itself up for sale after it failed to raise new funds to help revamp its stores
27th Jul 2012 – JJB’s chief, Keith Jones departure was announced
For more historic news, financial standing over the years, please visit our Retailer Directory here
The administration of JJB would be the latest casualty to hit Britain’s battered high street.
Other major administration this year include: Clinton Cards (went into administration in May and was rescued by Lakeshore Lending, a subsidiary of Clinton Card’s largest creditor American Greetings in June), Peacocks collapsed in January, Blacks Leisure, was acquired by JD Sports, also in January, by way of a pre-pack administration. In 2012 around 35 administrations were recorded on SnapShop. To stay up-to-date with retail administrations, new retailer entering UK and news please subscribe to SnapShop online at any time or register to receive information packed newsletter for 3 months.
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Welcome to the Madhouse |
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Posted At: 08 February 2012 17:33 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retailers |
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Stocking brands like Calvin Klein, Nike and Lee Cooper at discount prices one might assume Madhouse would work well in the current climate, but their past has been anything but rosy; think rocky and you’re on the right track.
If you look back over just the last couple of years, it is not hard to spot the in-out in-out administration pattern
The original company, Cromwell’s Madhouse, had already fallen into liquidation in the summer of 2007, then 56 stores were saved from closing in February 2009 by Deluxe retail
And to top it all Madhouse fell into administration at the beginning of February and it was announced on Tuesday of this week they had been saved by an unknown! (in phoenix pre-pack style, SnapShop suspects the current owners)
Other big names doing the Administration Hokey Cokey include
Adams Kids
Au Naturale
Envy
Ethel Austin
Floors 2 Go
Officers Club
Past Times
Puccinos
To ensure our customers are kept up to date with all retailer status changes, we at SnapShop have created a nifty device called Alerts, enabling you to keep your eye on all new and expanding retailers, as well as administrations. To learn more, why not take a look at the Demo or speak to one of our friendly team
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Retail Spotlight – Peacocks calls in the administrators |
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Posted At: 19 January 2012 15:34 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retailers, Social Commentary |
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Despite reporting a like-for-like sales increase of 17% over the Christmas period, Peacocks’ problems ran much deeper – after months of struggle, Peacocks calls in the administrators making it the biggest retailer to collapse.
19/01/2012 – Peacocks collapsed into administration putting over 9,600 jobs at risk. Joint administrators from KPMG are trading the company while they look for a buyer. The Bonmarché business, which employs approximately 3,800 staff, has not entered administration and continues to trade
17/01/2012- Peacocks boss attempted to put together an eleventh hour rescue deal to save the retailer as the company's advisers filed a notice of intention to appoint an administrator, after talks to restructure £240m of debt failed
09/12/2011 – Peacocks was considering closing up to 200 stores, as it was seeking to reduce its debt burden
28/11/2011 - Goldman Sachs was in talks to take control of the chain and was in discussions to become the majority shareholder as part of plans to reduce Peacocks’ £240m debt pile
19/09/2011 - Peacock lenders appointed KPMG to conduct an independent review of the business
28/04/2011 - Allan Leighton was in talks to become Chairman of Peacocks, for a potential sale or flotation
18/04/2011 - Fast fashion chain launched a higher-priced collection of catwalk-inspired clothing with retail prices between £35 and £38
01/10/2010 - Peacocks cancelled plans for a sale as it failed to attract what it considered to be acceptable offers
31/08/2010 - Peacocks hired Goldman Sachs, and was looking at selling the chain for an estimated £500m-£600m, or refinancing the business
18/06/2010 - Chief executive Richard Kirk confirmed that a strategic review of the business has begun that is likely to result in the sale of the value fashion chain
26/04/2010 – Owners were considering a sale or refinancing of the value retail group
20/04/2010 – Value retailer relaunched its website
11/01/2010 – Retailer reported cracking Christmas, like-for-like sales rose 8% in the eight weeks to January 2, with a 17% spike in December and early January. Total sales over Christmas rose 13%
16/12/2009 - Peacocks has taken a 10-year lease for 7,800 sq ft at £25 per sq ft at Newbury Retail Park in Newbury
4/11/2009 - Peacocks took 7,000 sq ft shop at Thornfield’s 1.6m sq ft The Rock scheme in Bury, Greater Manchester
9/01/2009 - Peacocks outlined plans to buy up to 50 shops from failed competitors
Financial Health:
Key:
P2>175 – Very Strong
P2 >150 and <175 - Healthy
P2>125 and <150 – Fairly Healthy
P2>100 and <125 – Head Above Water
P2<100 – Very Worrying
SnapShop subscribers can find more information like store numbers, quarterly and annual sales and latest news on the Peacocks Group and Bonmarché here.
Elsewhere on the high street, Pumpkin Patch UK arm went into administration while Primark’s sales surged over Christmas, ASOS reported strong Christmas trading, Q4 sales jump at ebay. For more up to date news on retail administrations, new retailers and expanding retailers, please subscribe to SnapShop with membership starting from only £96 pa.
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Retail Spotlight – Pumpkin Patch UK subsidiary goes into administration |
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Posted At: 19 January 2012 15:23 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailers, Store Closures |
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Following the announcement of collapse of children’s store Pumpkin Patch in the UK; we bring to you an overview of the retailer’s financial performance over the years and highlights of the latest news
19/01/2012 - Pumpkin Patch has called in administrators on its UK subsidiary, this does not affect any other of the group's companies. Retailer said current economic environment in the UK and in wider Europe is extremely difficult. It’s website and social media channels have not been updated with this information
28/09/2011 - The CEO resigned after the company swung to a full-year loss, which it blamed on soaring cotton prices, soft trading conditions, and the impact of natural disasters in the region
11/02/2011 - The results of the company for the year ended 31 July 2010 showed a pre-tax profit before non-recurring items of £1,872,183 for the year and sales of £24,993,241. During the year retailer opened 3 new stores and had expected to open 3 new stores in 2011
8/07/2010 – For the year ended 31 July 2009, the results for the company show a pre-tax loss before non-recurring items of £4,842 (2008 loss of £277,892) for the year and sales of £24,076,404 (2008 £23,731,916).
Financial Health:
Key:
P2>175 – Very Strong
P2 >150 and <175 - Healthy
P2>125 and <150 – Fairly Healthy
P2>100 and <125 – Head Above Water
P2<100 – Very Worrying
To keep a tab on these retail administrations and financial health of over 2000 retailers, please subscribe to SnapShop with membership starting from only £96 pa.
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Retail Spotlight - Past Times on brink of administration |
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Posted At: 04 January 2012 10:21 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailers |
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Following the announcement of intention to appoint administrators by Past Times; we bring to you an overview of the retailer’s trading over the years and highlights of the latest news.
18/02/2010 - Past Times was hunting for new stores and intended to ramp up its online offer
23/09/2010 - Trading successfully from 115 stores across the UK and Ireland, retailer was looking to acquire a minimum of 30 locations in 2010
22/10/2010 - The gifts retailer opened 30 pop-up shops for Christmas and hired 400 extra staff
16/09/2011 - Following successful campaign in 2010, retailer was seeking a minimum of 60 locations to open in 2011
30/12/2011 - The board of Past Times, which is owned by Epic Private Equity, confirmed that it intends to appoint administrators in the New Year, placing approximately 1,000 jobs at risk
Legally, there must be a 10-day gap between an intention to enter administration being lodged with the High Court and its starting. This means the process is likely to start during the second week of January
Retailer Profile:
Past Times specialises in developing and selling quality products inspired by important design periods throughout history. The variety of products is extraordinary, ranging from household accessories and jewellery to gifts, toys, clothes, books, DVDs and much more. Past Times was founded in 1986 as a mail order company and opened its first store in Oxford in June 1987. With products aimed at the Middle sector of its market, Past Times has over 140 stores throughout the UK and Ireland, and a transactional website.
Financial Health:
7months ended 26 December 2009
The company increased both its high street and outlet presence during the period, opening a total of 24 new stores and ended the period with a total of 120 across the UK. This included the opening of the two largest turnover stores as the company shifted focus to higher turnover stores in key locations. Store sales in the eight months to December 2009 were £32.3m, compared to £26.7m in the comparable period, an increase of 21%
Year ended 25 December 2010
The company increased both its high street and outlet presence during the period, opening a total of 35 new stores and ended the period with a total of 141 stores across the UK and Ireland. The company continues to focus on stores that are in key locations and those with high contributions, accordingly 11 stores were closed during the period.
To keep a tab on these retail administrations and financial health of over 2000 retailers, please subscribe to SnapShop with membership starting from only £96 pa.
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Retail Spotlight – D2 Jeans goes into administration |
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Posted At: 04 January 2012 10:00 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailers, Store Closures |
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The festive period brought a spate of administrations across the high street with D2 jeans failing early in the New Year. We bring to you news highlights and information about the retailer’s performance over the years.
04/01/2010 - Fashion chain D2 became the first post-Christmas retail casualty, falling into administration
11/01/2010 - D2 was bought out of administration by its management team saving 44 stores out of 76 and 500 jobs
3/01/2012 - Store chain D2 Jeans collapsed into administration again, making 200 staff redundant and putting hundreds more jobs at risk. Administrators closed 19 UK stores - including six in Scotland - and laid off shop workers at the Ayrshire-based firm. The Scottish closures were in Clydebank, Falkirk, Glenrothes, Hamilton, Irvine and Paisley. D2's other 28 stores are being run as a going concern while a buyer is sought by administrators, BDO LLP.
As at 3/01/2012, the website has been shut – optimistically stating that it is “temporarily” out of service, whilst displaying the returns policy and list of stores which are trading.
Financial Health
SnapShop uses a well-tested and reliable score based on value added, that is, sales minus the cost of bought-in goods and services, also known as P2.
Key:
P2>175 – Very Strong
P2 >150 and <175 - Healthy
P2>125 and <150 – Fairly Healthy
P2>100 and <125 – Head Above Water
P2<100 – Very Worrying
To view retailers profile and more information on retail administrations for 2011-12 please subscribe to SnapShop.
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Retail Spotlight - Hawkin's Bazaar in administration |
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Posted At: 04 January 2012 00:34 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailers |
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Following the collapse of the owner of toy and novelty gift chain Hawkin's Bazaar brand; we bring to you an overview of the retailer’s trading over the years and highlights of the collapse.
29/06/2010 – Hawkin’s Bazaar hired a senior TK Maxx executive as its new boss as the business ramped up its expansion plans
12/04/2011 - Bristol-based surveyor Williams Gunter Hardwick was reappointed to find 60 temporary units in major towns and cities across the UK in time for Christmas trading Hawkin's Bazaar
24/05/2011 – It was announced that the toy retailer Hawkin's Bazaar will open store in St David's in Cardiff
30/12/2011 - Hawkin's Bazaar brand collapsed into administration, putting 380 staff at risk
Financial Health
SnapShop uses a well-tested and reliable score based on value added, that is, sales minus the cost of bought-in goods and services, also known as P2.
Key:
P2>175 – Very Strong
P2 >150 and <175 - Healthy
P2>125 and <150 – Fairly Healthy
P2>100 and <125 – Head Above Water
P2<100 – Very Worrying
Company Announcement on Website
On 30 December 2011, Peter Saville, Fraser Gray and Anne O’Keefe of Zolfo Cooper LLP were appointed Joint Administrators of Tobar Group Holdings Limited and its subsidiaries (The Group).
Hawkin’s Bazaar customers in possession of gift vouchers may continue to exchange these for goods as normal in any of The Group’s stores. Those customers seeking to make returns should look, wherever possible, to visit their local store where they will be permitted to exchange their goods. Cash refunds will not be provided.
Statement from administrators can be read here.
Should you wish to stay up-to-date with retail administrations and news please subscribe to SnapShop online at any time or register to receive information packed newsletter for 3 months.
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Retail Spotlight – Barratts Priceless plunges into administration |
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Posted At: 09 December 2011 14:17 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailers, Store Closures |
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How cruel that quarter rent day is on Christmas day. When tills should be ringing, for some, there may only be the sound of doors slamming shut, including high street footwear retailer Barratts.
Following the recent news of collapse of Barratts Priceless for the second time, FSP has reviewed and updated the retailer records on SnapShop. Below is a summary of the retailer profile and highlights of the administration:
26/01/2009 - Shoe retailer Stylo's Barratts and Priceless Shoes collapsed into administration
19/02/2009 - The Ziff family rescued 160 Barratts and Priceless shops, , the remaining 220 stores were closed
20/03/2009 - Barratts Priceless appointed property agent CB Richard Ellis to renegotiate terms on the 160 stores it bought out of administration
19/03/2010 - Footwear retailer unveiled a new look for its Oxford Street flagship store
18/05/2010 – Barratts launched its first iPhone App and had plans to roll-out click & collect, targeted SMS marketing and promotions
3/12/2010 - Barratts has appointed John Hood, former managing director of footwear retailer Brantano, to the newly created role of brand director
8/12/2011 - The consolidated results for the 18 month period ending 31st July 2010 showed an operating profit after exceptional items of £8.6m from sales of £218.5m
10/02/2011 - Barratts has increased its email conversion rates after an overhaul of its e-commerce strategy
8/12/2011 – Reduced trading, increasing competition threatened Barratts ability to pay December’s quarterly rent bill, leading to collapse of chain thereby putting 3,840 jobs at risk. Given the gloomy economic backdrop, retail analysts are not confident that a buyer for the chain will be found
From the retailer’s own website, “On December 2011, Daniel Francis Butlers, Neville Barry Kahn and Adrian Peter Berry were appointed Joint Administrators and now manage the affairs, business and property of the Companies in Administration. The Joint Administrators act as agents of the Companies and contract without personal liability. The Joint Administrators are authorised by the Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. All licensed insolvency practitioners of Deloitte LLP are licensed in UK”.
With worsening consumer confidence, the run-up to Christmas is bound to bring more pain for the retail sector - how deep that pain will go? could this be avoided?
SnapShop provides information on 2,000+ retail fascias, including the Barratts fascias: Priceless, Shellys, Bacon Shoes
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Retail Spotlight – Hub goes into liquidation |
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Posted At: 29 September 2011 14:34 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retailers |
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This week we heard news that R3’s Business Distress Index indicates that one in ten retailers believe they will enter administration over the coming 12 months, whilst Hub became the latest casualty as Rent Day loomed.
Following the collapse of the mid-market variety chain; we bring to you an overview of the retailer’s trading over the years and highlights of the collapse:
5/03/2010 – Poundland co-founder Dave Dodd revealed ambitions to develop a national 200-store mid-market variety chain. Dodd had plans to increase shop numbers to 30 by the end of 2012.
23/04/2010 – Retailer was looking to open its first two stores in Hark Group's Telford Shopping Centre in Shropshire and at Capital Shopping Centre's Arndale Centre in Manchester
16/07/2010 – Hub signed for the 10,000sq ft Telford store which opened at the end of August
5/08/2010 – Hub implemented an EPoS system that will support its expansion
26/11/2010 – Owner Dodd said that both shops were "trading very well" and said the retailer has "the potential for substantial growth".
6/12/2010 – Retailer announced second opening will be the 13,000sq ft flagship store in Manchester's Arndale centre.
28/09/2011 - Hub has collapsed ahead of the rent quarter day on 29 September. In total, 57 jobs across the firm’s head office and four branches have been lost.
Retailer Profile
Poundland co-founder Dave Dodd revealed ambitions to develop a national 200-store mid-market variety chain designed to be a general merchandise equivalent to TK Maxx. Merchandise included hardware, homewares, stationery, gadgets, greetings cards, electricals, toys, confectionery and fashion accessories.
There were four stores located in Manchester, Telford and Stafford. The first store in Telford opened in 2010.
It was announced in September 2011 that Hub had collapsed into administration.
As the 29/09/11 retailer’s website has not been updated with this information with a mention of retailer seeking to open new stores across England and Wales.
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September Rent Day Looms. . . |
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Posted At: 28 September 2011 12:16 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retailers |
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As the quarter rent day approaches on Thursday, SnapShop asks just how many retailers are going to hit the buffers this time? The March and June quarter days have already contributed to the collapse of high-profile retailers including Habitat, TJ Hughes, Jane Norman and HomeForm Group.
With sluggish high street sales, clothing sales volumes dropping, supermarkets raging an all-out price war to attract customers and consumers’ level of discretionary spending falling, coupled with a climb in the rate of inflation, there is a high chance that this day could trip a raft of retailers into financial collapse.
And it's not just the big retailers with multiple stores spread around the country that need to worry – the first victim of the quarter rent day is Hub, launched only last year by Poundworld co-founder Dave Dodd, which only had three stores on its collapse.
SnapShop is a useful tool for looking at the financial health of retailers, so keep a close eye here for all the latest news of retail administrations (and other news that’s not so gloomy) around this very important (and scary if you are a retailer) date.
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Retail Spotlight – Walmsley sinks into administration |
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Posted At: 02 September 2011 15:00 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Store Closures |
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Following the collapse of Walmsey Furnishings; we bring to you an overview of the retailer’s trading over the years and highlights of the administration.
01/09/11 - Furniture chain Walmsley has become the latest casualty of the consumer spending downturn after collapsing into administration. Out of 60, 25 stores have already been sold to a new owner (private equity firm SKG) by administrators from Leonard Curtis. The rest have been closed, but uncertainty surrounds the future of 200 staff. There is no information about administration on their website, which just features 25 stores, as opposed to 60.
Store Closures Summary
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Region
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Store Closure Count
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Store Locations
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North West
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8
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Ashton, Blackburn, Burnley, Farnworth, Kirkby, Preston, Runcorn and Skelmersdale
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Midlands & Wales
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9
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Bangor, Coventry, Derby, Dudley, Erdington, Hereford, Stafford, Walsall and Wrexham
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North East & Yorkshire
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11
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Castleford, Grimsby, Halifax, Hartlepool, Huddersfield, Hull, Middlesbrough, Rotherham, Scunthorpe, Sheffield and Worksop
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Scotland
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5
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Airdrie, Dalkeith, Dundee, Irvine and Paisley
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Other
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5
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Basildon, Bedminster, Bracknell, Sittingbourne and Weston
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08/02/11 - For the year ended 30th April 2010, the company operated through 65 stores. It reported a difficult year with decrease in sales and the profit for the year amounted to £158,910
26/04/10 - The Company was accused of selling sofas that left people with rashes and burns
27/01/10 - During the year ended 30th April 2009, the company traded from 69 stores in England, Wales and Scotland. Two new stores have been opened during the year and one has been relocated. The profit for the year, after taxation, amounted to £216,425
To find more information and view retailers profile on Walmsley’s and many other retailers, you can subscribe to SnapShop with membership starting from only £96 pa.
We will be updating this blog as we receive information on store closures, redundancies, acquisitions etc., so if you wish to stay informed about Walmsley furnishings please fill in your email address in the subscribe box to the right of the SnapShop Blog screen.
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Retail Spotlight - Floors-2-Go crashes again with 192 job losses |
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Posted At: 25 August 2011 14:57 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailers, Store Closures |
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Following the collapse of Floors 2 Go; we bring to you an overview of the retailer’s trading over the years and highlights of the administration
25/08/11 – 35 out of 88 stores have been bought by Nixon & Hope – which was formed this month by former Floors-2-Go directors Parjinder Sangha and David Vizor
24/08/11 - Specialist retailer Floors 2 Go was put into administration. 53 stores have been closed with the loss of almost 200 jobs. It blamed increasing competition, internet sales, lack of disposable income from consumers and primarily general downturn over the last 12 months to be the reasons for collapse
14/01/11 – Retailer hired former B&Q chief Jim Hodkinson as chairman and won £3.25m cash injection from Hotbed with plans to open 60 stores in 2011. Floors-2-Go director Michael Coleman said the retailer was trading "very comfortably" but remained cautious about 2011
30/05/11 – Jim Hodkinson’s appointment as chairman terminated
04/06/11 - Floors-2-Go and Topps Tiles in dispute over email allegations about Floors-2-Go’s performance
27/05/10 – Financial Performance for the year ended 31 July 2009 - the year to July 2009 saw a profit of £853k on sales of £34m and an impressive 9% growth in LFL sales (comparing same stores trading in either Floor My Home Ltd or the previous Floors 2 Go Ltd business)
27/10/2009 – Following pre-pack administration in 2008, retailer’s management was thought to be looking for commitments from interested parties to invest should its trading continue to prosper
Floors 2 Go - Retail Profile
Established in 1999, Floors 2 Go is a nationwide chain of privately owned and operated retail showrooms that offer a selection of the latest styles in carpet, hardwood, laminate, tile, area rugs, vinyl and window fashions, aimed at the Middle price sector.
It has had a troubled history, first entering administration in August 2008. It was later rescued by founders Michael Coleman and Robert and Richard Hodges. Hodges duo bought 80 out of 132 stores, who also run competitor brand named Floor My Home - rebranded all their other stores to the Floors-2-Go fascia.
In August 2011, retailer collapsed into administration again, closing 53 stores with the loss of almost 200 jobs. However 35 shops are still trading by the sale of part of Floors 2 Go to specially formed acquisition vehicle Nixon & Hope. Senate Recovery have been appointed as administrators.
Floors 2 Go transactional website, is still operational with no mention of change of ownership.
For more information on retailer’s financial health, please subscribe to SnapShop or signup to receive SnapShop Monthly for free for three months by signing up for FreeZone here.
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Retail Spotlight – TJ Hughes store closures- Updated |
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Posted At: 12 August 2011 00:24 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Store Closures |
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Following the collapse of TJ Hughes; we bring to you: update on store closures and highlights of the administration
 • 11/08/11 – TJ Hughes closed its Salford store after looters vandalised property and stole goods and TJ Hughes in Middlesbrough, Preston, Southend, Bristol, Kings Lynn, Newport, Ipswich and Maidstone will also all shut down between August 16th and 18th, resulting in the loss of 474 jobs
• 10/08/11 - Some 134 retail jobs were secured after the administrators announced that they have sold another two of the company’s stores (Widnes & Newcastle) to Lewis’s Home Retail
• 04/08/11 – TJ Hughes will close 22 stores by the end of 14th August resulting in the loss of 1,061 jobs
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Store Locations |
Last day of trading |
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Shrewsbury |
August 10th 2011 |
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Birkenhead, Dumfries, Dundee, Rochdale, Widnes, Wolverhampton |
August 11th 2011 |
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Stretford |
August 13th 2011 |
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Bolton, Boscombe, Burnley, Chester, Crawley, Hull, Kettering, Kidderminster, Macclesfield, Nuneaton, St Helens, Walsall, Watford, Weston-super-Mare |
August 14th 2011 |
• 01/08/11 – 4 stores sold to Lewis's Home Retail including flagship store in London Road, Liverpool, together with stores in Eastbourne, Glasgow and Sheffield
• 22/07/11 - Around 100 TJ Hughes employees were made redundant after a shock announcement that the retailer’s distribution centre in Liverpool is to close
• 07/07/11 - Administrators E&Y of collapsed retailer TJ Hughes said that it was encouraged by the strong level of interest in the retail business and its stores
• 06/07/11 – Retailer called in liquidator to sell off the stock
• 30/06/11 - TJ Hughes collapsed into administration - Sir Philip Green, Primark and B&M Bargains expressed interest in stores
• 28/06/11 - TJ Hughes filed an intention to appoint an administrator
• 28/04/11 - The retailer's chief executive Beatrice Lafon was replaced after 3 months by Bob Lister
• 21/04/11 - Anthony Solomon, who together with turnaround investor Endless invested an unknown amount in the business for a significant stake
• 15/04/11 – Endless appointed Anthony Solomon as executive chairman
• 01/04/11 – New owner, Endless made efforts to put the value department store group on a firmer financial footing
• 25/03/11 – Discount department store was refinanced and sold to restructuring specialists Endless
• 11/03/11 – Retailer refinanced using an asset based facility giving it access to working capital
• 17/11/10 - During the 52 week period ended 30 January 2010 total sales increased by £5.4m to £266.7m. Gross profit increased by £5.0m with gross profit percentage rising from 36.5% to 37.6%
• 12/11/10 - TJ Hughes has named Beatrice Lafon as its new chief executive
• 07/06/10 – Department store chain pulls sale process
• 16/04/10 - TJ Hughes put up for sale with a £70m price tag
• 21/11/09 – Retailer opens new store in Walsall
• 09/11/09 – Discount chain TJ Hughes appointed bankers Hawkpoint to advise on options including a possible sale
As at 11th August 2011 retailer’s website is operational with a closing down sale and says ”…The affairs, business and property of TJ Hughes Limited (In Administration) are being managed by the Joint Administrators, S Allport and T A Jack who act as agents of TJ Hughes Limited (In Administration) only and without personal liability”
For more information, please subscribe to SnapShop or signup to receive SnapShop Monthly for free for three months by signing up for FreeZone
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Retail Insolvencies in Q2 2011 |
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Posted At: 28 July 2011 15:00 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail Statistics, Retailers, Store Closures |
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According to recent report by PwC, the number of UK Company insolvencies fell in the second quarter but warned that corporate failures could rise in some sectors as consumer spending remains weak.
In total, 3,531 UK companies became insolvent in the second quarter, a 16% decline from the 4,216 failures in the first three months of the year, according to an analysis by PwC.
Some of the administrations noted on SnapShop for first half of 2011 were long-established high street chains such as Oddbins, Moben, Dolphin, Focus DIY, Habitat and Jane Norman, as well as some newer names like Georgina Goodman and Life & Style. Over the previous quarter, the number of retail administrations has gone down by 7% in second quarter of 2011 compared to first quarter of 2011 - a significant number of them were household names.
At the same time it was interesting to know that number of new retailers entering UK have increased by nearly 33% in Q2 2011compared to Q1 2011 along with an increase in number of retailers rescued in Q2 2011 compared to that in Q1 2011.
We were asked, if this is because landlords are working harder to help retailers? Well, yes and no. Landlords are well aware there aren’t too many retailers knocking on their doors. And some rent is often better than nothing also as Q2 takes in the period after the retail doldrums of February and March. Retailers having survived Q1, hope for better times. But Midsummer Quarter Day, rent day for the Third Quarter, is a day of reckoning.
Alongside this there was an affirmative research published by LDC showing no change from the occupancy level seen at the beginning of 2011, LDC suggests this is due to regional variations and a high volume of betting shops, supermarkets and charity shops opening across the country, and it also points to an improvement in the opening of independent stores.
Do you need to keep up-to-date with these trends and statistics? Please subscribe to SnapShop online at any time or register to receive information packed newsletter for 3 months.
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Retail Spotlight - Moben, Sharps and Dolphin owner collapses into administration |
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Posted At: 27 June 2011 15:39 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Store Closures |
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On 22nd June 2011 – Retailer launched a new ad campaign uniting its three brands for the first time. Brands will all feature the same '& You' branding in the new campaign that will communicate the group's half-price sale
On 23rd June 2011 - Homeform has filed a notice to appoint an administrator. Advisers were appointed to sell bathroom retailers Moben and Dolphin in a bid to save its Sharps and Kitchen Direct businesses
On 27th June 2011 – HomeForm collapsed into administration, putting 1,300 jobs at risk
History of Events
October 2002 - The Homeform Group, which operates Moben Kitchens, Kitchens Direct, Sharps Bedrooms and Dolphin Bathrooms introduced a new store format that brings its various brands together within a single store
March 2009 - HomeForm launched its biggest ever in-store spring marketing campaign for its three brands
May 2009 - HomeForm opened concessions in four Bhs Home stores
June 2010 – Group chief executive Tony Vicente and chief financial officer Tim Kowalski left the business amid a difference of opinion with the owners
Oct 2010 - Retailer's new chief executive (Chris Palvlosky) laid out his three-year plan to increase profits and enable an exit for owner Sun European Partners. Looking for a way to contact retailers? please subscribe to SnapShop online at any time or register to receive information packed newsletter for 3 months.
Retailer’s Financial Health (Year Ended 28th March 2010) – HomeForm Group
Turnover in the 52 week period of trading was £151.2m (2009 £148.2m). The loss before tax was £6.0m (2009 loss £12.m).
During the period, turnover rose by 2% despite the impact of the UK recession. Through increased operational efficiencies and cost cutting, the company's EBITDA was a profit of £1.0m compared with a loss of £3.4m in the prior year.
Retailer Profile – HomeForm Group
The HomeForm Group is the UK's market-leading specialist retailer of fully fitted home improvement products through its key brands Moben (fitted kitchens), Kitchens Direct (fitted kitchens), Sharps (fitted bedrooms) and Dolphin (fitted bathrooms).
The Group's head office is at Cornbrook, Manchester and HomeForm has 160 showrooms across the UK including 83 concessions in Homebase, Bhs, Next and Laura Ashley with over 1300 employees and 1500 self-employed fitters and designers.
The HomeForm Group is private equity owned by an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners Inc.
In the latest accounts filed it was mentioned that the company is confident that as the UK economy improves and further cost savings and efficiencies are implemented, the business will be well placed to realise improved results. However, it was announced in June 2011 that Homeform Group has entered administration. It is hoped that it will be able to sell off its Moben and Dolphin brands in a bid to save its Sharps and Kitchens Direct businesses.
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Retail Spotlight – Jane Norman goes into administration |
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Posted At: 27 June 2011 15:28 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Jane Norman, Retail, Store Closures, Womenswear Retailer |
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Following the recent news that the womenswear retailer Jane Norman has collapsed into administration; we reviewed and updated the retailer record on SnapShop. Below is a summary of the retailer profile and highlights of the administration:
On 27th June 2011- Jane Norman collapses into administration putting 1,600 jobs at risk. Retailer closed its 90 UK stores over the weekend after it failed to find a buyer for the business. Zolfo Cooper have been appointed as administrators. At the time of writing, website had not been updated with information on how the company intends to handle online orders
On 24th June 2011 - Edinburgh Woollen Mill has entered the race to buy womenswear chain Jane Norman
On 23rd June 2011 - Debenhams bid to acquire the stock and brand Jane Norman. Debenhams wants to keep the profitable Jane Norman concessions trading in its department stores, but has no interest in its 91 high-street stores
On 20th June 2011 - Private equity firms Sun Capital Partners and Better Capital entered rescue talks
On 17th June 2011 - The management team behind Aurora Fashions emerged as an interested party to acquire beleaguered Jane Norman
On 8th June – Jane Norman managing director Ian Findlay stepped down
On 7th June 2011 - Jane Norman was put up for sale
On 15th April 2011 – Jane Norman kicked off a radical overhaul of its product and image to target a younger, trend-savvy shopper
On 1st March 2011 -Jane Norman veteran Saj Shah takes early retirement
On 6th April 2010 - Jane Norman approached Aurora non-executive president Stewart Binnie to become its new chairman
On 10th Jan 2010 - Jane Norman’s lenders are to take over the business and restructure its debts of almost £136m
On 1st May 2010 – The company drafted in accountancy company PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to assess the "operational efficiencies" of the business, three months after one of its major shareholders, Baugur, went into administration
On 27th March 2009 - Sandy Goldsborough, the trading director at Jane Norman, left the womenswear retailer after just six months in the role
Financial Health for Year Ended 27th March 2010
Total sales for the period ended 27 March 2010 were £144.1m (2009 £148.8m). The gross profit margin was 56% (2009: 56%), resulting in gross profit for the period of £80.0m, a decrease of £3.0m on the prior period. Administrative costs decreased from £72.0m to £70.0m mainly as a result of the reduction in costs for newly-opened stores, and reduction in head office costs. Administrative costs amounted to 48% of sales (2009: 48%).
As a result, operating profit for the period under review was £10.6m (2009 £11.1m). EBITDA was £15.4m (2009 £16.2m) and EBITDA margin was 11% (2009: 11%).
Want to read more? Subscribe to SnapShop to download Jane Norman’s latest accounts or register online to receive information packed newsletter for 3 months.
Retailer Profile – Jane Norman
Founded in 1952, Jane Norman is a womenswear retailer with over 170 stores/concessions in the UK and has a staff of over 1,600. It is positioned in the middle sector of the clothing/footwear market, with focus on young fashion. The Jane Norman target customer is typically aged between 16 and 25 and the company is most strongly associated with dressy fashion (weekend, pub and clubwear).
It was a private limited company following a management buyout backed by Baugur in 2005. Jane Norman did not appear to have been affected by the administration of Baugur.
In May 2009 Jane Norman drafted in accountancy company PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to assess the "operational efficiencies" of the business. It was announced in June 2011 that Jane Norman had been put up for sale.
In June 2011 it was announced that Jane Norman had entered administration, and 90 stores had been closed. Click here to view retailer’s profile on SnapShop
According to a recent report by Deloitte, the first quarter of 2011 has witnessed the highest number of retail administrations in two years with nearly 20 administrations recorded on SnapShop in Q1. Do you need to keep up-to-date with these trends and statistics? SnapShop, being an information tool, records just such information: retailers’ financial health, daily updated news, number of stores, head office details on over 2300 retailers and SnapShop News Alerts will keep you up to date with news about retailer administrations.
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Retail Spotlight - Haldanes in Administration |
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Posted At: 20 June 2011 17:10 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Store Closures |
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Following the recent news that Haldanes has collapsed into administration; we bring to you highlights of the administration:
On 9th June 2011 - Haldanes filed for an administration order, with the owners blaming the Co-op for its woes. In a statement, chief executive Arthur Harris assured that Haldanes Stores and Ruston Retail are the holding companies for the stores’ groups, and all the stores are unaffected and will remain open
On 20th June 2011 - The grocer has closed all its 23 shops after the owners filed an administration order. It is expected four will reopen
History of Events
On 6th November 2009 – Starting with four former Co-operative sites in Scotland, Haldanes Stores set up a new nationwide chain of supermarkets
On 17th November 2009 - The Company, announced the opening of its first store at Prestonpans, took over four ex-Somerfield outlets in Scotland and had plans to expand the chain
On 2nd December 2009 – Haldanes announced the acquisition of 13 new outlets across the UK purchased from Co-operative Group following its £1.6 billion Somerfield buyout
On 15th Jan 2010 - Haldanes acquired a further eight stores from the Co-operative Group, with the transfer of 245 staff
On 27th Jan 2011 – Haldanes announced the launch of a new fascia, “Ugo”, which comprised 20 of the Netto stores Asda had to sell off as part of its £778m acquisition
On 12th May 2011 – Legal actions broke out between the Co-operative Group and Haldanes over the former Somerfield stores bought from the Co-op in early 2010
For more information and up-to-date news please subscribe to SnapShop online at any time or register to receive information packed newsletter for 3 months.
Retailer Profile – Haldanes
Haldanes Stores specialise in fresh, locally sourced products, has 23 supermarkets located throughout Scotland and England and employs around 600 people across the UK
It was announced in June 2011 that Haldanes Stores Limited and Ruston Retail Limited had filed for an administration order. All stores have been closed, although it is expected that four will reopen.
Could the business have been rescued? Let us know what you think…
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Retail Spotlight –V8 Gourmet enters administration |
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Posted At: 20 June 2011 10:10 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retailers, Store Closures |
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Following the recent news that V8 Gourmet has collapsed into administration; we reviewed and updated the retailer records for group’s holdings on SnapShop. Below is a summary of the retailer profile and highlights of the administration:
In January 2009 - Gourmet Restaurants Group - the firm behind The Bombay Bicycle Club and the Tiffinbites and Vama Indian Restaurant chains was bought by entrepreneur Anoup Treon
In August 2009- Celebrity Big Brother winner Shilpa Shetty announced a 33% stake in V8 Gourmet Group.
In Dec 2010 –Group instructed property agent Cedar Dean Gilmarc to sell 10 Bombay Bicycle Club outlets
In March 2011 - V8 Gourmet entered emergency talks with its lenders and investors after HM Revenue & Customs petitioned for it to be wound-up after falling behind on its debt repayments to Indian bank ICICI
In May 2011 - The Bombay Bicycle Club and Tiffinbites curry houses have been rescued from the brink of collapse for the second time in under three years
In June 2011 – Group collapsed into administration again despite receiving last minute backing from new investors. Investment group Calleon stepped forward to take on the business’ debt at the last minute, but despite best efforts. Joint administrators Nimish Patel and Finbarr O’Connell of Re10 are continuing to trade the business as usual. At present no changes are to be made, and administrators are working hard to secure the jobs of all 264 employees.
For more information and up-to-date news please subscribe to SnapShop online at any time or register to receive information packed newsletter for 3 months.
Retailer Profile – V8 Gourmet
In January 2009 it was rumoured that Gourmet Restaurant Group were about to go into administration, however the group was bought by entrepreneur Anoup Treon in the same month. Gourmet Restaurant Group was rebranded V8 Gourmet Ltd.
The group, which operates 17 restaurant and takeaway sites across the Bombay Bicycle Club (BBC) and Tiffinbites brands, as well as catering arm Khana by Vama, Silk.
According to the most recent accounts filed with Companies House, the group made a pre-tax loss of £2.6m in 2009, with sales of £10.4m. It is thought V8 Gourmet was making a loss of £200k a month. V8 Gourmet Ltd entered administration again in June 2011.
Retailer Profile – Tiffinbites
Tiffinbites is an Indian restaurant offering faster, healthier dining with 4 outlets and concessions in Harrods & Selfridges across London. Tiffinbites and the Tiffin tin designs it uses for its takeaway service are trademarks of V8 Gourmet Ltd. It was announced in June 2011 that V8 Gourmet Ltd had entered administration. All outlets will continue to trade as normal.
Retailer Profile – Bombay Bicycle Club
The first Bombay Bicycle Club restaurant opened in Clapham 20 years ago and serves Indian cuisine. There are two restaurants in Balham and Holland Park and 15 home delivery kitchens which take orders via telephone or over the internet and deliver to set area in London. In July 2008, Bombay Bicycle Club became part of the Gourmet Restaurants group having been sold by Clapham House Group in July 2008.
It was announced in December 2010 that V8 Gourmet have instructed Cedar Dean Gilmarc to dispose of 10 outlets predominantly in London. In June 2011 that V8 Gourmet Ltd had entered administration. All outlets will trade as normal.
Related Blogs:
Life & Style in administration
Georgina Goodman goes into administration
Peter Werth & Pink Soda for sale
Focus in Administration – Updated
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Retail Spotlight – Life & Style collapsed into administration |
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Posted At: 10 June 2011 15:17 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retailers, Store Closures |
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Following the recent news that the fashion and homewares retailer Life & Style has collapsed into administration; we reviewed and updated the retailer record on SnapShop. Below is a summary of the retailer profile and highlights of the administration:
6/04/2010 – Life & Style Retail Limited was formed when Ethel Austin (comprising of 90 stores), the value chain and Au Naturale, was sold back to Elaine McPherson for a second time for an undisclosed amount by administrator MCR
19/05/2010 - Elaine McPherson, the former owner of Ethel Austin, has secured an injection of funds to launch Life & Style
04/01/2011 – Retailer signed a 10 year lease for an for an 8,700sq ft unit in Gallions Reach shopping park in Beckton, East London
08/01/2011 – Retailer reported to be on the brink of collapse after just over a year in existence
10/06/2011- Life & Style collapsed into administration and SKG Capital (headed up by entrepreneur Chris Althorp-Gormlay), the private equity business, is thought to be the frontrunner to acquire the retailer. Its banks appointed RSM Tenon as administrators. Loss of jobs (if any) was not clear.
21/06/2011 – Life & Style is closing 22 of it 150 stores and making 274 people redundant as administrators RSM Tenon continue talks with potential buyers.
For more information and up-to-date news please subscribe to SnapShop online at any time or register to receive information packed newsletter for 3 months.
Retailer Profile – Life & Style
Life & Style was born from the ashes of Ethel Austin and Au Naturale, when the value chains assets were rescued from administration by Elaine McPherson in March 2010. It is a fashion and homewares chain which consists of over 90 former Ethel Austin stores. McPherson wanted to grow the business to 200 stores over the next two years.
It was positioned in the Lower Middle/Value sector of the market with a focus on Classic Safe fashion.
Related Blogs:
Georgina Goodman goes into administration
Peter Werth & Pink Soda for sale
Focus in Administration - Updated
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Retail Spotlight – Georgina Goodman goes into administration |
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Posted At: 08 June 2011 10:00 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailers, Store Closures |
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Following the recent news that premium footwear retailer Georgina Goodman has collapsed into administration; we reviewed and updated the retailer record on SnapShop. Below is a summary of the retailer profile and highlights of the administration:
On 21/01/2010 – Retailer secured a £4m private equity investment from Core Capital to fund the expansion of its London-based footwear business.
On 02/02/2010 - Following investment from Core Capital Georgina Goodman announced expansion plans and said that the investment will also be used to broaden the lower-priced end of the range.
On 07/06/2011 – Georgina Goodman hit the buffers for reasons unclear. Restructuring firm Hilco was appointed on June 2 to handle the sale of the company, which is understood to be underway with an undisclosed buyer. The company’s Shepherd Street store and website have already closed while the Old Bond Street shop remains open.
For more information and up-to-date news please subscribe to SnapShop online at any time or register to receive information packed newsletter for 3 months.
Retailer Profile - Georgina Goodman
Georgina Goodman is a footwear retailer which had two London stores (Shepherd Street and Old Bond Street), as well as a transactional website. Product is aimed at the upper middle of the market with a focus on Assured Individual fashion.
As of June 2011 it was announced that Georgina Goodman had entered administration, for reasons that are unclear. One store and the website have been closed.
Information Displayed on Website – “By Order of K Provan and M Fry, Joint Administrators of Georgina Goodman Ltd. At this moment in time, you can no longer place orders from this website.”
However, it is unclear how company aims to fulfil orders already placed and loss of jobs (if any)
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Retail Spotlight – Peter Werth & Pink Soda for sale |
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Posted At: 18 May 2011 00:53 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailers |
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Following the recent news that Peter Werth and Pink Soda have collapsed into administration in May 2011 FSP has reviewed and updated the retailer records on SnapShop. Below is a summary of the retailer profile and highlights of the administration:
• In June -10 - Greg Tufnell, MD of menswear brand Peter Werth, rescued women's young fashion brand Pink Soda from administration, & outlined plans to add more brands to his Brand Acquisitions stable
• In July -10 - Greg Tufnell who led the buyouts of Peter Werth and Pink Soda for £10m in 2008, quit Brand Acquisitions, the venture which backed the business
• In November-10 - Turnover for the year was £8.8m (2009: £11.3m) and operating loss for the year was £883,120 (2009 - profit of £988,588) - directors expected the business to return to profit in the future.
• On 13/05/2011 - Springrealm, Peter Werth’s trading company, appointed FRP administrators
• On 16/05/2011 - Peter Werth, the menswear brand, went in administration - FRP have been appointed administrators to business. Effect on sister brand Pink Soda was unclear
• On 17/05/2011 - The parent company pulled the plug on the business, forcing Pink Soda in to administration too
• On 27/05/2011 - JD Sports buys Peter Werth and Pink Soda
Retailer Profile – Peter Werth
Peter Werth is a clothing retailer that targets men and women aged 18-40 in the premium sector of the market. There is one standalone store in Liverpool and is sold through 35 House of Fraser concessions and has around 200 wholesale accounts in the UK, Belgium and Germany. The business employs approximately 70 staff.
It is aimed at the Upper Middle sector of the market with a focus on Assured Individual fashion.
Retailer Profile- Pink Soda
Pink Soda was established in 1983 by Robert Rose and David Solomon and is a womenswear retailer. There are two labels: Pink Soda Boutique, which launched in 2001 and sits at the designer end of the market, and Pink Soda, which launched in 2004 as a younger, slightly more accessible brand. Both are sold successfully to department stores and key boutiques worldwide.
Pink Soda fell into administration towards the end of 2008 but was bought out by Greg Tufnell, managing director of Peter Werth.
In May 2011, Pink Soda went into administration - Jason Baker and Geoff Rowley were appointed joint administrators.
There is no information on website about administration and its impact on deliveries but according to Brand Acquisitions managing director Peter Lynes “It is business as usual. As it stands, the view is autumn will be impacted as little as possible. For the most part we will get through this quickly and out the other side with a stronger brand than we have gone into it with.”
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Retail Spotlight - Focus in Administration - Updated |
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Posted At: 06 May 2011 10:10 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailers |
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Following the recent news that Focus has collapsed into administration on 5th May 2011 FSP has reviewed and updated the retailer record on SnapShop. Below is a summary of the retailer profile and highlights of the administration:
• On 7th March 2011 - Disposed of six stores to Asda in a bid to raise funds
• On 15th March 2011 – Focus wins an agreement from most of its landlords to carry on paying monthly rents
• On 4th May 2011 – The Focus DIY chain said it intends to go into administration.
• On 5th May 2011- Collapsed into administration putting 3,919 jobs at risk. Administrators blamed low consumer confidence and a very weak housing transaction market that impacted on Focus and placed considerable pressure on sales and margins
• On 6th May 2011 - Owner of The Range, has publicly revealed interest in buying Focus DIY's stock and stores.
• On 6th May 2011 - Kingfisher bought 31 Focus DIY stores from administrator Ernst & Young
• On 11th May 2011 - Administrators received a “fantastic level of interest” in the business as it seeks offers for a sale
• On 17th May 2011 - Wickes agreed to acquire up to 13 leasehold properties and associated colleagues from the administrators of Focus for £ 8.4 million
• On 20th May 2011 - B&M Bargains acquired 11 Focus stores
• On 23rd May 2011 - administrator Ernst & Young hired restructuring specialists (Gordon Brothers) to begin liquidating stock
• On 25th May 2011 – administrators are expected to announce the closure of more than 120 stores with the loss of up to 3,000 jobs
This appears to be the largest retail administration of 2011, and follows the collapse of Oddbins, British Bookshops and Stationers and Alworths. Highlights of retail news are reported in SnapShop Monthly. Find out what SnapShop is all about and receive SnapShop Monthly for free for three months by signing up for FreeZone here
It is apparent that Focus is not accepting any online orders, on the website it said “Following notification of an event of default under the senior credit facility, and a realisation that there were no alternatives that could be explored any further, Focus Directors have come to the conclusion that to protect the interests of creditors they have no choice but to seek protection through filing a notice of intention to appoint administrators.”
For more information and up-to-date news please subscribe to SnapShop online at any time.
Retailer Profile - Focus
Founded in 1987, Focus is a DIY retailer with over 170 stores in the UK positioned in the middle sector of the DIY market.
Focus trades off 8.2m sq ft of selling space (1.9m sq ft of which is outdoor), with average store selling area of 32,000 sq ft. Its target market is located in market towns of 20,000 to 80,000 population or edge-of-urban areas.
Cerberus bought Focus in June 2007 who has since performed a strategic review of the business. As a result, a CVA was agreed in 2009 on the agreement that it’s 20 or so 'dark stores' (non-trading buildings) are disposed of before the end of the year.
In May 2011, Focus DIY fell into administration Ernst & Young were appointed as administrators and is looking for a buyer for the group and its stores.
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Retail Spotlight - Blue Inc |
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Posted At: 13 April 2011 00:29 AM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Retailers, Store Closures |
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Following the recent news that Blue Inc has taken on 46 The Officers Club stores after the latter fell into administration in March 2011 FSP has reviewed and updated the retailer records on SnapShop . Below is a summary of the retailer profiles and highlights of the acquisition:
• On 29th March 2011 – The Officers Club fell into administration for the second time in just over two years, leaving hundreds of jobs at risk.
• On 29th March 2011 - Blue Inc bought 46 stores out of administration, in a deal thought to be worth about £5m. The deal was announced, the same day The Officers Club appointed Grant Thornton as its administrator.
• On 31st March 2011 – It was announced that stores bought are expected to add between £25 and £30m of sales to Blue Inc’s turnover, bringing its revenues up to about £80m.
Retailer Profile - Blue Inc.
Established in 1912, Blue Inc. is a menswear retailer with over 140 stores in the UK with annualised sales of £80m. It is positioned in the Lower Middle sector of the market with a focus on Young Safe fashion, and brands stocked include Kickers, Base and Ben Sherman. 80% of store offering is own brand, and Blue Inc Woman is available in selected stores. Blue Inc is the trading name of A Levey & Son Ltd which was bought by Marlow Retail in January 2006. In November 2010 it was announced that the retailer is seeking retail units with a sales area of 2,500 to 4,000 sq ft in cities and smaller to mid-sized towns.
Retailer Profile - The Officers Club
The Officers Club was established in 1998 and has since grown to become one of the largest independent menswear retailers in the UK, with around 110 branches (before administration) nationwide. The offering was situated in the Lower Middle/Value sector of the markets with a focus on Family Safe fashions; however, a refocus of the business in the last 5 years now sees it targeting the "fashion savvy males” in the 16-25 year-old market.
More information and analysis is available to SnapShop Members. You can subscribe to SnapShop online at any time.
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Retail Administrations - 2010 |
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Posted At: 21 March 2011 17:00 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail, Store Closures |
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A comparison of the retail administrations in 2010 with those in 2009 has confirmed the view that there has been a steep fall in number of companies filing for administration in 2010. There were 32 retail administrations in 2010, versus 72 in the comparable period of 2009.
The retail industry showed healthy signs of recovery in 2010, with this dramatic drop of 44% in the number of companies falling into administration.
Administrations reported in previous issues of SnapShop Monthly summarised below:
· November 2010 - Speciality Retail Group went into administration this month, wiping out three high street names in the process: Suits You, Racing Green and Youngs Hire
· October 2010 - Fifi and Ally is the only reported retail casualty
· August 2010 - Two retailers hit the buffers with Confetti and Asco Supermarket, turning up its toes completely and going into liquidation
· July 2010 - Out of Town Restaurant Group hit the buffers, following allegations of fraud
· June 2010 - Two administrations, but in true Phoenix fashion, both Antler and JAG Communications resurrected through pre-pack
· May 2010 - Two administrations were Faith and Lab Sport
· April 2010 - Two Administrations, in the form of Envy and Saltrock
· March 2010 - Three Administrations which were Irish bookseller Hughes & Hughes, Jean Scene Ireland Ltd and Norfolk-based Riva Shoes
· February 2010 - Retail Administrations include Diamonds & Pearls, Designer Room, Ethel Austin and sister Au Naturale and the Fads, Textyle World and Leveys brands, owned by Divalimit
· January 2010 - six retail administrations, including Adams, D2, Wesley Owen, Natural Kitchen, Ellie Louise and Happit; three of these appear to have been pre-pack administrations, while the others, aside from Adams, have also been rescued.
These statistics tally up with the views of chief executives of Debenhams, New Look and Kingfisher who have predicted that the UK will not suffer from a double dip recession. All three give reasons for hope, with international, multichannel and product innovation hotspots in the industry.
For up-to-date information on store closures/retail administrations please subscribe to SnapShop.
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2009 Review |
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Posted At: 04 January 2010 16:44 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Future of Retailing, General, Retail, Retailers, Social Commentary |
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If you’re anything like me, you’ll be thoroughly confused as to how it can be January 2010 already. 2009 seems to have gone by in a blur of drama and change for the retail world, as the industry struggled to stay afloat in the difficult market conditions.
January was perhaps the most traumatic month, as the final Woolworths store closed and SnapShop record 20 – yes 20 – retailers falling into Administration!
On the flip side of that of course are new market entrants, which also saw a decline in 2009. Falling from 110 in 2008 to 79 between January and December 2009, they struggled to offset the losses felt on the high street.
Interestingly, some retailers who may have been destined to die managed to breathe new life into their lungs by persuading landlords to agree to a CVA. Focus, Blacks and Flannels all took advantage of this rarely-used opportunity.
Though many property developments slowed down as redundancies in the sector increased in abundance, Aberdeen’s Union Square, Bath’s SouthGate scheme and the St David’s 2 shopping centres in Cardiff all opened successfully and continue to trade well.
And finally, towards the end of the year, we though Christmas was doomed as a veil of white snow fell across the country, creating panic and pandemonium amongst the hundreds of men who had left their Christmas shopping till the last minute – again! John Lewis was on hand, however, to provide a bed for those stranded at their High Wycombe store when the blizzards hit – aaaw!
It may not have been the best year, and it may not yet turn out to be the worst, but those who got through it are likely hoping for some reprieve in 2010, so here's hopping they get it!
Also in 2009…
- Co-Op completed its £1.5bn acquisition of Somerfield
- Primark was hit with more controversy over questionable ethics at some of its suppliers
- JJB Sports and Chris Ronnie got into a right old spat, ending with his suspension and a subsequent investigation into his dismissal
- Iceland’s economic crisis threw Baugur into turmoil – it eventually put its stakes in House of Fraser, Hamleys, Aurum and Iceland into Administration in February
- HMV ventured into new things, opening a cinema above one store, Orange concessions on the high street and taking stakes in various music venues
- New Look relocated their head office from Dorset to London
- Jimmy Choo collaborated with H&M
- Best Buy ramped up its UK entrance plans
- And importantly, M&S won its £3.5m teacake tax battle, to determine that teacakes were in fact cake and not chocolate-covered biscuits as they had been taxed for
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Borders UK collapses into administration |
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Posted At: 27 November 2009 00:17 AM
Related Categories: Administrations |
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As predicted by the SnapShop Blog last week, Retail Week has today reported that book chain Borders UK has appointed MCR as administrator. The collapse affects some 1,150 employees.
Borders has been teetering on the brink of collapse since last week when sale talks with potential buyer WH Smith broke down.
Previously part of US Borders Group Inc, Borders is a books retailer with over 40 stores in the UK.
It was acquired by Risk Capital Partners, a Private Equity company, in September 2007, but was then put up for sale in June 2009. In July of the same year, a Management Buyout with backing from Valco Capital Partners was completed.
It is positioned in the Middle sector of the books market and operates out-of-town/non-high street formats as well as traditional high street stores.
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Luella ceases trading |
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Posted At: 11 November 2009 15:12 PM
Related Categories: Administrations |
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Luella Bartley’s eponymous clothing line has been forced out of business. Conflicting reports put the blame on a major supplier closing, whilst others blame the chain’s financial backers for pulling out.
Ms Bartley, who won Designer of the Year at last year's British Fashion Awards, said: "This is a very disappointing situation for everyone involved with the brand. It is upsetting not to be able to protect jobs in this difficult economic climate”.
Five people in her design studio and 13 in distribution face losing their jobs.
Source: The Appointment
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First Quench in Administration |
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Posted At: 30 October 2009 15:55 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retailers |
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First Quench Retailing, the UKs largest chain of independent off-licences, fell into Administration today.
The board confirmed that KPMG had been appointed, and that the business is current up for sale as a going concern.
First Quench Retailing was formed by the merger of Whitbread owned Threshers and Allied Domecq owned Victoria Wine in August 1998. This bought together Threshers Wine Shops, Drinks Cabin, Wine Rack and Huttons with Victoria Wine Cellard, Haddows, Martha’s Vineyard and The Firkin, most of which were rebranded to various “Thresher…” fascias.
It is thought that non-executive director John Cleland may lodge a bid for a scaled down version of the business.
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Borderline |
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Posted At: 09 October 2009 16:55 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Future of Retailing, Retailers |
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I’m concerned about the UK arm of bookseller Borders.
When you read as much retail news as I do – in other words, lots – you start to pick things out. Sometimes its good things – the turnaround of New Look into a fashion behemoth, for example, but as is the nature of the UK press, you more often pick up on worrying signs...and Borders have started flashing on my radar.
Some Borders headlines from the past few months:
What do you see? Whatever it is, I doubt it’s good.
The first headline, in my opinion, is the most worrying; historically, retailers start turning to landlords in the weeks coming up to something desperate – like CVAs.
Focus entered into their CVA just 8 months after begging Landlords for monthly payment terms, while JJB had a similar history before theirs.
I wouldn’t want to be put in a similar financial category as either of those retailers, would you?
Borders seem to have exhausted most other attempts at a turnaround; no one wanted to buy the chain back in June, when a corporate finance house was appointed to assess sale options (a MBO in July doesn’t count); no one really cared about the proposed re-vamp (I say proposed because I’ve seen no evidence of it); and closing stores didn’t seem to help either.
Moreover, I question some expansion decisions the company have made in recent months. I’m not sure moving away from your core product line in times of troubles is a good idea – especially not when you’re extending to such things as online dating! You’re a book seller Borders! Stop trying to compete with those who can – and do! - do it better!
I don’t know, maybe its not desperation, maybe they just have a nasty case of Amazonitus, but whatever it is, it doesn’t seem particularly well informed to me, and I don’t think the signs are good at all. Dr SnapShop is predicting some very bad news on the cards for poor old Borders UK in the not so near future.
Tell us what you think; should Borders concentrate on rectifying their existing problems, or is moving out of the dwindling book market the only way they can survive? Comment below, by choosing “Comments” from the links!
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