840 jobs saved as Jones Bootmaker deal completes
Private equity investor Endless has acquired Jones Bootmaker, in a deal which has saved 840 jobs.
25 underperforming stores and six concessions are not part of the sale and will close immediately. These closures will result in approximately 262 job losses, including three stores in the East Midlands in Nottingham, Lincoln and Northampton with the loss of 35 jobs.
Endless has been in talks week to buy the distressed business from private equity firm Alteri, before it entered administration on Friday.
Will Wright, Steve Absolom and Blair Nimmo of KPMG were appointed joint administrators of A Jones & Sons on 24 March.
It appeared talks had broken down prior to the administration and appointment of KPMG, but now Endless has announced the acquisition nine days after its initial offer was made.
Garry Wilson, executive chairman at Endless, said: “The Endless team have worked relentlessly for the last few weeks to rescue as many jobs as possible at Jones Bootmaker. The proposed deal collapsed on Thursday morning but all parties continued talking and worked hard to rescue this iconic British High Street name. Completion finally took place on Saturday lunchtime with over 800 people now in safe, secure employment.”
The 160 year-old Jones has 72 stores as well as a head office in Leicestershire.
East Midlands company Jones was originally established in 1857 and sells shoes for men and women under its own brand name and also a range of well-known high end brands.
Endless has invested in The Works Stores, Bathstore.com and The West Cornwall Pasty Company before and formerly owned Peter Black International which was one of the UK’s largest footwear distributors.
Andrew Smith, partner, led the investment for Endless. Smith said: “Jones is a well-known and loved brand on the UK High Street. We recognise that there is a lot of work to be done to transform the Company to secure long-term stability for the business and its employees but we are delighted to be working with the team and can see the opportunities for an exciting future.”
Will Wright, partner at KPMG and joint administrator, commented: “We are delighted that we have been able to rescue such an iconic UK footwear brand as Jones Bootmaker, including a high proportion of stores and preserving a large number of jobs, especially given the current economic pressures faced by retailers across the UK. This deal recognises the value of Jones as a strong and popular high street brand with a loyal customer base.”
Steve Absolom, joint administrator at KPMG, added: “Whilst it is always pleasing to preserve a significant number of jobs, sadly a number of redundancies are to be made at the closed stores. Over the coming days, our priority is to ensure all employees who have been affected by redundancy receive the information and guidance they need in order to claim monies owed from the Redundancy Payments Office.”
Jones’s sister firm Brantano, which was bought alongside Jones in a £12m deal in 2015, was placed into administration by Alteri last week.
