Shoe shop chain Barratts enters administration for a third time

MORE than 1,000 jobs are at risk after administrators were called in to footwear retailer Barratts Shoes.

Philip Duffy and David Whitehouse of advisory firm Duff & Phelps were appointed joint administrators of Barratts on Friday afternoon.

The administrators are reviewing the company’s financial position whilst seeking a going concern sale of the business. They said that at this stage redundancies and/or store closures cannot be ruled out.

Duffy, a partner at Duff & Phelps, said: “Difficult trading conditions in the sector led the directors to explore potential refinancing options and additional equity for the business.

“The company had recently received an offer from an investor to inject £5m into the company but that offer was withdrawn on the evening of the 7th November.

“In view of the financial position of the company and withdrawal of that equity offer the directors were left with no choice but to appoint administrators.”

The company operates from 75 stores and 23 concessions across the UK and Ireland employing 1,035 (of which 521 are part time).

It is not the first time the business has run into trouble, having first called in the administrators in 2009.

And in December 2011, Barratts Priceless Ltd (BPL) called in administrators from Deloitte to find a buyer for the company following its financial collapse which led to around 2,500 job losses, with around 100 stores and 359 concessions closing.

In January 2012, it was announced that a management rescue plan was to be implemented, run by Barratts chief executive Michael Ziff.

Barratts was founded in Northampton but is now headquartered in Yorkshire.

Click here to sign up to receive our new South West business news...
Close