Sports Direct circles BHS stores
Shirebrook-based Sports Direct could still have a role to play in the BHS story, it has emerged this morning.
The firm could still be interested in buying stores from BHS, the high street giant that collapsed into administration yesterday lunchtime with debts of £1.3bn and a huge pensions black hole.
Sports Direct’s owner Mike Ashley had been in talks with BHS bosses all weekend about taking over its 164 shops, but these discussions fizzled out on Sunday when the sheer scale of BHS’s debt became clear.
However, Ashley could be eyeing all or part of BHS’s property bank and is thought to be in discssions with administrators Duff & Phelps, who have received more than 30 expressions of interest in buying BHS.
For industry analysts, BHS’s collapse was only a matter of time.
Phil Dorrell, partner, Retail Remedy retail consultants said: We might love the BHS brand but when was the last time you shopped in a store? Lose sight of your customer and you lose sight of your business.
“The attention has all been on the debts of the business but the ongoing strategy of BHS has been neglected. There isn’t a reason to shop there. The supermarket offers tick all the boxes that BHS once owned and without a radical change in proposition there just isn’t a space for BHS to occupy.
“When the administrators are called in, there won’t be a retailer to buy BHS wholesale. Expect a piecemeal sale of specific sites in strategic locations to John Lewis possibly or Sports Direct or Next.
“Sadly this is probably the beginning of the end for BHS on our High Streets. It would take a brave and innovative business to buy the brand and turn it into an ongoing concern.”
The jobs of 11,000 people are at risk following BHS’s demise.
John Hannett – Usdaw general secretary said: “This is devastating news for the employees of BHS and we urge the company to change their attitude to trade unions and begin a dialogue with us at this difficult and worrying time.
“We also urge the administrators and the company to comply with the law, consult with staff and Usdaw as the union for BHS workers. We don’t want to see BHS staff locked out of discussions, sent to the back of the queue of creditors and treated like fixtures and fittings, as happened at Woolworth’s.
“The Government needs to intervene now to protect taxpayers from picking up the bill for redundancy payments and safeguard the Pension Protection Fund.
“We are in touch with our members working in BHS to reassure them that we will provide the support, advice and representation they require.”
