Womenswear chain Bonmarche collapses into administration for the second time in a year putting 1,500 jobs at risk as retail crisis deepens
- RSM Restructuring Advisory said all of Bonmarche’s 225 stores will remain open
- It added that there are no redundancies yet as it looks to agree a rescue deal
- It comes after the clothing chain plunged into administration in October 2019
- Brand has struggled with rising costs and dwindling footfall on UK high streets
Womenswear chain Bonmarche has collapsed into administration for the second time in just over a year, putting more than 1,500 jobs at risk.
RSM Restructuring Advisory, which has been appointed to handle the administration, said all of Bonmarche’s 225 stores will remain open and there are no redundancies yet as it looks to agree a rescue deal.
It follows Bonmarche plunging into administration in October 2019, before administrators agreed a rescue deal with retailer Peacocks.
The announcement comes as the latest in a series of blows to the UK’s high street, after both Debenhams and Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia group collapsed this week.
Womenswear retailer Bonmarche has collapsed into administration for the second time in just over a year, putting more than 1,500 jobs under threat
Despite the deal, 30 stores were closed before last Christmas, affecting hundreds of jobs at the group.
Damian Webb, joint administrator of RSM Restructuring Advisory, said: ‘Bonmarche remains an attractive brand with a loyal customer base.
‘It is our intention to continue to trade whilst working closely with management to explore the options for the business.
‘We will shortly be marketing the business for sale, and based on the interest to date we anticipate there will be a number of interested parties.’
The brand has struggled with rising costs, such as business rates and rising wages, as well as dwindling footfall on UK high streets.
Bonmarche was previously bought in a rescue deal by private equity firm Sun European Partners in 2012.
It comes after Bonmarche plunged into administration in October 2019, before administrators agreed a rescue deal with retailer Peacocks
The company was later floated on the London stock exchange before retail tycoon Philip Day purchased a majority stake earlier this year.
A large number of shareholders then sold their stakes to Mr Day, giving him a 95 per cent ownership in the struggling retailer.
Meanwhile, 242-year-old chain Debenhams has cut prices by up to 70 per cent today, ahead of the company’s impending liquidation.
The department store is set to be liquidated by the new year after JD Sports scrapped its proposed rescue deal following the collapse of Arcadia group.
Arcadia, which owns Topshop, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins and Burton, tipped into administration, putting 13,000 jobs at risk.
Debenhams has said it will continue to trade in its 124 shops and online with a fire sale of its stock as the national lockdown ends today, on a shopping day being branded ‘Wild Wednesday’.