Fashion brand Ted Baker’s remaining 31 stores in the UK will close this week, putting more than 500 jobs at risk.
Ted Baker was founded in Glasgow in 1988 by entrepreneur Ray Kelvin as a menswear brand and became known for its quirky advertising and floral prints. The British branch of Ted Baker had to file for bankruptcy in March after making heavy losses.
The brand has since closed 15 stores in the UK, resulting in the redundancy of around 245 staff, but it is expected that the retailer’s remaining stores will close this week. The brand will continue to be available through wholesale partners including John Lewis and House of Fraser.
Ted Baker has been struggling for years with increasing competition, a shift in trading to online and the consequences of the departure of Kelvin, who resigned in 2019 following allegations of “forced hugging”.
It has been a tough year for the British fashion industry as a whole, following an unseasonably cold spring and early summer, while the cost of living crisis has dampened spending on non-essential goods.
The brand’s latest store closures, expected to be completed by Tuesday, come just two years after US-based Authentic Brands Group bought the brand for a bargain price of £211 million and operates its UK arm under the company’s No Ordinary Designer Label (NODL) division.
Authentic Brands, the company behind numerous fashion brands such as Juicy Couture and Reebok, still owns Ted Baker’s intellectual property. The company had been looking for a new partner to run its retail and online business in the UK and Europe. Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group was a favourite, but talks have apparently fallen through.
Last month it was revealed that Ted Baker could disappear from Britain’s high streets after staff were told its remaining stores could close. Sky News reported on Sunday that talks over a possible future licensing partnership had stalled.
NODL had previously reported a loss of almost £44 million in the year to January, as revenues fell almost 8% to £176 million over the year amid problems with its former European licensee.
The brand has stores in the US, Asia and the Middle East, as well as Europe. It also sells directly to department stores and licenses its brand for products such as children’s clothing and lingerie, both of which are operated by UK retailer Next. The licenses, franchises and US business are apparently unaffected by the problems at NODL.
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Authentic has been considering options for the future of the company since late January after terminating a contract with Dutch company AARC, which operated Ted Baker’s retail stores and website in the UK and Europe.
When NODL filed for bankruptcy in March, Authentic said the “damage” caused by its association with AARC was “too great to repair.”
