Family owners weigh up options for loss making Lakeland

Family owned household goods retailer Lakeland has called in advisors from Teneo to seek a prospective buyer for the Windermere headquartered business.

Owned by brothers Julian, Sam and Martin, sons of the founder Alan Rayner, the options are understood to include a sale of the business which employs 1000 across its 59 stores across the UK and three stores in the Gulf states, its head office, and a distribution centre in Kendal.

The three brothers retired from their operational roles in the business in 2020 and promoted Steve Knights to chief executive, formerly Lakeland’s Commercial Director.

Sky News has also reported that PwC is advising their main lender HSBC.

In the last set of financial results reported a £1.95m loss on turnover of £153m and auditors RSM warned it Lakeland’s auditors warned of “material uncertainty… [about] the company’s ability to continue as a going concern”. 

In the accounts the company admitted it was “facing the most challenging economic conditions for several decades with high inflation leading to falls in demand for many traditional categories”.

In a statement the company confirmed the testing economic conditions.

“In response to the challenging retail environment, we are considering a number of options to ensure a sustainable and long-term capital structure, which builds on our sixty-year heritage as one of the UK’s most innovative homeware retailers.”