JJB ‘given deadline for turnaround plan’
BOSSES at JJB Sports, the troubled retailer, have just over a week to finalise a new turnaround plan, according to reports.
The Wigan company which has 180 shops and employs 4,000 people warned last month that it would need fresh funds to pay for its store refurbishment programme sooner than it had expected as it battles poor trading and rising debts.
The Independent newspaper said that the management havebeen given a deadline of September 5 to submit the proposals for a financial restructuring.
All of JJB’s major shareholders are said to be participating in the talks but it is unclear if the timeframe has been imposed by Lloyds Banking Group, the retailer’s main lender, or by the group’s management.
JJB, which declined to comment, has been involved in a long-running survival battle and has closed dozens of poorly-performing stores over the past three years.
The company secured its most recent lifeline in April when US retailer Dick’s Sporting Goods pumped in £20m, though Dicks has since written this off.
After the departure of chief executive Keith Jones, the former boss of lingerie chain La Senza, Beverley Williams, was appointed as interim CEO at JJB in a move that will see her work alongside US retail recovery specialist Bob Corliss.
