Ted Baker to close 11 UK stores, 245 jobs to be lost

Weeks after the appointment of administrators for its UK arm No Ordinary Designer Label (NODL), Ted Baker has now confirmed that 11 of its stores in the region are set to close.

All sites are expected to cease trading by April 19, triggering the loss of 120 store roles. In addition to this, 25 head office roles have also been made redundant “as a result of a necessary reduction in central costs”.

According to Teneo, the appointed administrator, the closing stores are “all currently loss-making” and, following a review, are “deemed to have no prospect of being returned to profitability, even with material rent reductions”.

Their closure, therefore, are part of a “necessary step” to ensure the business can go on to deliver a profitable trading performance in the future.

The stores impacted in the closures include Birmingham Bullring, Bristol, Bromley, Cambridge, Exeter, Leeds, Liverpool One, London Bridge, Milton Keynes, Nottingham and Oxford.

Four additional stores to close due to landlord notices

In addition to this, the joint administrators at Teneo, Benji Dymant and Daniel Smith, noted that they had been informed that four additional stores across the UK had been served notice from landlords prior to their joining.

The stores – located in Bicester, London; Brompton Road, London; Floral Street; and Manchester Trafford – are also set to close in the coming weeks, resulting in 100 redundancies.

Authentic Brands Group, the owner of Ted Baker’s IP, said that it was currently in the process of finding a new operating partner for the brand’s retail and e-commerce business in the UK and Europe.

In a statement to FashionUnited, Dymant said: “These store closures, whilst with a regrettable impact on valued team members, will improve the performance of the business, as Authentic continues to progress discussions with potential UK and European operating partners for the Ted Baker brand to bring the business back to health.

“We would like to thank Ted Baker team members and partners for their ongoing efforts and support at this difficult time.”

The administration of NODL was announced earlier in March, and came as a result of a turbulent relationship between Authentic and its former collaborator AARC, with which an agreement had previously been terminated due to “consistent failures” by the Dutch firm to “meet agreed financial obligations”.

The administration came nearly two years on from Authentic’s 211 million pound acquisition of Ted Baker, which encompassed the entire issued share capital of the brand in a deal made through a court-sanctioned arrangement under the UK’s Companies Act.

Following the takeover, Authentic went about integrating its standard third-party partner model into the business, striking a series of licensing deals with a number of global manufacturing and sourcing partners to expand the brand further afield.

The positivity did not last long, however, and in mid-2023 media reports began suggesting that 200 jobs in the company’s head office were to be eliminated as part of a strategic turnaround, launched upon Authentic’s acquisition.