Stores to close despite LK Bennett buyout
A buyout has saved high street fashion retailer LK Bennett from administration, however its Birmingham store is one of several that will close with the loss of more than 100 jobs.
Byland UK has bought the flailing retailer, saving a total of 325 jobs. Byland was set up by Rebecca Feng, who runs the Chinese franchises of the business. She reportedly beat Sports Direct’s Mike Ashley to the punch, according to the Guardian.
15 of the stores were not included in the deal and will close, including Bath, Gloucester, Westgate Oxford, and five sites in London.
Five stores were already closed immediately upon the appointment of administrators last month, including at Sheffield Meadowhall, Liverpool, Bristol and another two sites in London.
It is yet another casualty of the British high street, after other high profile administrations such as that of Debenhams and House of Fraser. The latter reportedly owed more than £400,000 to LK Bennett when it was placed into administration.
The deal, for an undisclosed sum, includes the company’s HQ in Hackney, and 21 stores as well as all of its concessions. International subsidiaries are not included in the sale and remain in administration.
Ms Feng said: “Under our plan, the business will continue to operate out of the UK, looking to maintain the long-standing and undoubted heritage of the brand.
“This will be achieved through a combination of working with quality British design, and the business’s existing supply chain.”
Linda Bennett founded the company in 1990, but sold her majority stake in the chain to private equity firm Phoenix Equity Partners in 2008.
She returned to advise the ailing business in 2017 before buying it back, investing around £11m of her own money in the company. However it reported an operating loss of £6m for the year to the end of July 2017 in its latest available accounts.
