Ted Baker to close 15 stores, axe 245 jobs

(Sharecast News) - Ted Baker is set to close 15 stores and axe around 245 jobs, it emerged on Monday. The company behind the fashion brand's UK shops, No Ordinary Designer Label Limited (NODL), hired administrators from Teneo last month.

Teneo said in a statement that it will close 11 Ted Baker stores in the UK, with all sites expected to cease trading by 19 April. This will lead to the loss of around 120 jobs.

In addition, around 25 jobs will be lost at head office "as a result of a necessary reduction in central costs".

Tenea said the closing stores are all loss-making and deemed to have no prospect of being returned to profitability, even with material rent reductions.

"As such, their closure is believed to be a constructive and necessary step in ensuring the business can deliver a profitable trading performance in the future," it said.

It also said that landlords had served notice on four additional stores which are due to close in the coming weeks and result in a further 100 redundancies.

Joint administrator Benji Dymant said: "Ted Baker is an iconic British brand with strong partners around the world. 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."