Hotter Shoes to launch CVA amid restructuring plans

Shoe retailer Hotter Shoes has revealed it intends to enter into a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) over the coming days in order to “restructure” the company.

The move could see the the high street chain close over 60 of its UK stores, and comes after the retailer’s parent company, Electra Private Equity, entered discussions with a number of its retail landlords seeking agreements to reduce the number of stores to a level and cost that would allow Hotter to “remain viable”.

However, Electra noted that these individual discussions were “unsuccessful”, and as such, said Hotter will be entering into a CVA process “in the coming days”. If the CVA proposal is approved and successfully implemented, it will leave a trading estate of 15 shops.

In parallel with this process, Hotter has also entered into formal consultation with a number of employees at its Skelmersdale head office that “may lead to a number of redundancies”.

Neil Johnson, Electra Private Equity chairman, said: “Before the pandemic hit, Hotter, under new chief executive Ian Watson, was making good progress to accelerate the implementation of a digitisation strategy to return it to its direct marketing routes.

“The need for these actions has been intensified by the consequences of the past three months of lockdown.”

He added: “If successful, the proposed CVA will result in fewer stores, which will secure the future of a smaller, sustainable business and will save over 350 jobs. I would like to thank all our colleagues at Hotter for their continued understanding at this difficult time.”