LONDON – Insolvent clothing chain Ted Baker is to close 15 stores in Britain and axe about 245 jobs, its administrators said on April 8.

Ted Baker announced in March that it was to go into administration across Europe due to debts and difficult trading.

Teneo, joint administrators of No Ordinary Designer Label (NODL), the holding company that manages the Ted Baker brand, said in a statement that 11 shops will close by April 19.

It added that “regrettably this is expected to result in the loss” of some 120 store jobs and 25 roles at the brand’s headquarters.

Landlords had also served closure notices on four stores prior to the administrators taking control, resulting in further 100 or so redundancies, Teneo said.

“The closing stores are all currently loss-making and, following review by the joint administrators, are deemed to have no prospect of being returned to profitability, even with material rent reductions,” the statement added.

Ted Baker was acquired in 2022 for £211 million (S$359.72 million) by Authentic Brands Group (ABG), which also owns Reebok and Juicy Couture.

ABG is “currently in the process of finding a new operating partner for the retail and e-commerce business in the UK and across Europe”, Teneo added.

Ted Baker, which was founded in 1987, has been in crisis for several years.

The brand was hit by a sexual harassment scandal involving its founder Ray Kelvin which led to his resignation, along with his management team, in 2019. AFP