Ted Baker’s remaining 31 stores are set to close this week after takeover talks with Mike Ashleigh’s Frasers Group stalled.
More than 500 jobs could go at the Glasgow fashion brand after the company responsible for its UK shops, No Ordinary Designer Label Limited (NODL), collapsed in March, with its administrators overseeing the closure of the stores.
Ted Baker has already closed 15 shops in the UK, resulting in about 245 staff being made redundant, since the administration was announced. Prior to the insolvency, Ted Baker had 46 UK stores and employed around 975 people.
Authentic Brands, the US-based firm behind Juicy Couture and Reebok, is still the owner of Ted Baker’s intellectual property, with Frasers Group reported to have been discussing a deal with Authentic encompassing both Ted Baker and Reebok.
The collapse of the UK stores could mark the end of TedBaker on the high street, after being founded in 1988 by Ray Kelvin and recognised for its patterned and floral clothing, although the brand is currently still sold through department stores and retailers such as John Lewis and House of Fraser.
Its difficulties began in 2019 after its founder faced claims of inappropriate conduct, which he denied, with his successor Lindsay Page and chairman David Bernstein resigning the following year after a profit warning.
The company was delisted from the London stock market in 2022 with NODL partly blaming the process on damage done during a partnership with Dutch company AARC Group and the “significant level of arrears” that had built up during the association.
No Ordinary Designer Label ended the AARC partnership in January, saying that the partner had not met its promises to inject cash into the business.
