US Edition
Ted Baker will cut almost 250 jobs as it shuts down one in three stores across the UK, the fashion retailer’s administrators have said.
Eleven loss-making Ted Baker locations will shut down by Friday April 19, restructuring firm Teneo announced on Monday.
It said a further four had cancelled their leases before its UK and Europe retail entity, No Ordinary Designer Label, was placed into administration last month, and will close in the coming weeks.
Around 245 jobs will be lost in total as a result of the closures, with 25 of those at the company’s head office.
Authentic Brands Group, Ted Baker’s American owners, put the company into administration in late March saying it had accumulated “a significant level of arrears” and blaming its former owners, the Dutch company AARC.
It is looking for a new owner of the retail business.
Teneo said that after a review it had determined that the 11 stores “have no prospect of being returned to profitability, even with material rent reductions”.
It added: “As such, their closure is believed to be a constructive and necessary step in ensuring the business can deliver a profitable trading performance in the future.”
The company runs 46 Ted Baker stores in the UK as well as concessions in airports and department stores.
The closures are largely in city centre locations but do not include Ted Baker’s flagship store in Covent Garden.
Benji Dymant, No Ordinary Designer Label’s joint administrator said: “Ted Baker is an iconic British brand with strong partners around the world.
“These store closures, whilst with a regrettable impact on valued team members, will improve the performance of the business, as Authentic continues to progress discussions with potential UK and European operating partners for the Ted Baker brand to bring the business back to health.
“We would like to thank Ted Baker team members and partners for their ongoing efforts and support at this difficult time.”