Administration
This coverage explores retail administrations and insolvencies within the UK market, examining the circumstances, decisions, and consequences for businesses, employees, and creditors. Reporting highlights notable cases, restructuring efforts, store closures, and leadership actions aimed at recovery or winding down. Designed for executives and managers, it offers insights into risk, resilience, and lessons from commercial failures.
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Feb- 2020 -19 FebruaryHigh Street
Beales to shutter 11 remaining stores
The administrators of Beales have announced the plans to close the department store chain’s remaining 11 stores and associated stock liquidation. The company entered administration in January, and joint administrators Will Wright and Steve Absolom from KPMG, said no “deliverable offers have been received for the business to date”. In…
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17 FebruaryFeatures
Book Smart: Why the independent bookshop is here to stay
The bookselling industry is subject to constant speculation. In a world where Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos reigns and tablet devices are a mainstay, one would be forgiven for assuming the end is nigh for independent booksellers’ success. But despite the rise of retail giants and fall of book…
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17 FebruaryComment
Online vs offline – are physical stores starting to fight back?
More than half of UK consumers are now shopping online, with UK online spend forecasted to increase by 29.6% between 2019 and 2024, according to retail analysts at GlobalData. As a nation, we spend roughly £1 in every £5 online; a figure which has remained relatively steady in recent years. …
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12 FebruaryDIY
Inter Ikea appoints new CEO
Inter Ikea has announced that Torbjörn Lööf, who has been the company’s CEO for the past seven years, is to step down from his role and will be replaced by Jon Abrahamsson Ring. To ensure a “good handover”, Ikea said Ring, who is a former assistant to Ikea founder Ingvar…
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11 FebruaryHigh Street
Administrations up 5% in 2019
The number of companies falling into administration across England and Wales increased by just under 5% in 2019, according to new analysis from KPMG. A study of notices in the London Gazette showed that a total of 1,403 companies went into administration during 2019, compared with 1,341 in the previous…
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4 FebruaryEconomy
Retail chief executive turnover reaches seven-year high in 2019
Retail chief executive turnover has reached a seven-year- high, a new study has found. The Korn Ferry’s eighth annual UK Retail CEO tracker reported a 25% increase since 2018, the report also stated that the industry replaced 55 of its CEOs in 2019, up from 44% a year earlier. The…
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3 FebruaryDepartment Stores
Beales slashes 32 head office roles following administration
Embattled department store chain Beales has announced 32 job cuts at its head office in Bournemouth, nearly two weeks after the group entered administration. KPMG said the joint administrators will be “providing support to those affected over the coming days”. However, KPMG confirmed that all of the chain’s stores remain…
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3 FebruaryHigh Street
Hawkin’s Bazaar confirms final stores closures
Embattled retailer Hawkin’s Bazaar confirmed its final store closures over the weekend as part of its administration process. The joint administrators of Hawkin’s Bazaar Limited, Tom Straw and Simon Thomas of Moorfields Advisory Limited, revealed that all of its stores were to close after the weekend of 2 February. Straw,…
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Jan- 2020 -31 JanuaryAnalysis
The whole Amazon thing is getting scary now
The ‘growth of online retail’ is now so proverbial that the phrase itself is nearly redundant. Is anyone surprised to learn this morning that Amazon has absolutely rampaged through the Christmas retail season, while scores of well-known bricks-and-mortar retailers reported a torrid set of financial results for the same period?…
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30 JanuaryElectrical
Deloitte fined £1m over handling of Comet administration
‘Big Four’ accountancy firm Deloitte has been fined £925,000 for its handling of electrical goods retailer Comet’s administration in 2012. Deloitte and two of its partners, Neville Kahn and Christopher Farrington, have been sanctioned by the accountancy watchdog and have also agreed to pay the costs of the Institute of…
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