Jaeger and Peacocks owner Edinburgh Woollen Mill will close 50 stores and axe 600 jobs in latest Covid blow to the High Street
Jaeger and Peacocks owner Edinburgh Woollen Mill has announced it will close 50 stores in the latest blow to the high street during the coronavirus pandemic.
Around 600 jobs will be lost across the country but so far no details have been given of which outlets will be closed.
Last week the company lodged a notice to appoint administrators, putting 24,000 jobs at risk.
It came amid allegations the company cancelled orders worth millions of pounds with clothing factories in Bangladesh at the start of the crisis.
Jaeger and Peacocks (pictured in London) owner Edinburgh Woollen Mill has announced it will close 50 stores in the latest blow to the high street during the coronavirus pandemic
Jaeger is part of the Edinburgh Woollen Mill empire and is now under threat of closure
Workers claimed Edinburgh Woollen Mill demanded heavy discounts, which led to workers being terminated.
Bosses wrote to staff warning them that the national and local lockdowns had hit sales very heavily.
EWM chief executive Steve Simpson said: 'Like every retailer, we have found the past seven months extremely difficult.
'This situation has grown worse in recent weeks as we have had to deal with a series of false rumours about our payments and trading which have impacted our credit insurance.
The Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group was first founded in 1946 by Drew Stevenson as the Langholm Dyeing and Finishing Company and chiefly dyed yarn
'Traditionally, EWM has always traded with strong cash reserves and a conservative balance sheet, but these stories, the reduction in credit insurance, against the backdrop of the lockdown and now this second wave of Covid-19, and all the local lockdowns, have made normal trading impossible.
'As directors we have a duty to the business, our staff, our customers and our creditors to find the very best solution in this brutal environment.
'So we have applied to court today for a short breathing space to assess our options before moving to appoint administrators.
'Through this process I hope and believe we will be able to secure the best future for our businesses, but there will inevitably be significant cuts and closures as we work our way through this.
Edinburgh Woollen Mill is owned by businessman Philip Day, who has a fortune of £1.05billion
'I would like to thank all our staff for their amazing efforts during this time and also our customers who have remained so loyal and committed to our brands.'
An FRP spokesman said: 'Our team is working with the directors of a number of the Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group subsidiaries to explore all options for the future of its retail brands Edinburgh Woollen Mill, Jaeger, Ponden Home, and Peacocks.'
The Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group, based in Langholm, Scotland, is owned by high street billionaire Philip Day, who has a fortune of £1.05billion and rivalled Mike Ashley in his acquisition of Jack Wills last year.
Around 600 jobs will be lost across the country but so far no details have been given of which outlets will be closed
It was first founded in 1946 by Drew Stevenson as the Langholm Dyeing and Finishing Company and chiefly dyed yarn.
By 1970, when it opened its first shop Edinburgh, then two years later opened another across the border in Carlisle.
It was taken over by a management buy-in led by Philip Day and is now an independent privately-owned business 100% held by his family.
It acquired the Jaeger brand in 2017 and Peacocks came earlier in 2012 when it was taken in after going into administration.
How more than 211,000 job losses have been revealed by major UK firms since lockdown began
Some 211,381 job losses have been announced by major British employers since the start of the coronavirus lockdown in March as follows:
October 17 - Edinburgh Woollen Mill - 600
October 16 - Pret A Manger - 400
October 14 - Gourmet Burger Kitchen - 362
October 7 - Greene King - 800
October 6 - Virgin Money - 400
October 6 - Vp - 150
October 5 - Cineworld - 5,500 (many cuts likely to be temporary)
September 30 - TSB - 900
September 30 - Shell - 9,000 worldwide
September 29 - Ferguson - 1,200
September 22 – Wetherspoon – 400 to 450
September 22 – Whitbread – 6,000
September 18 – Investec – 210
September 15 – Waitrose – 124
September 14 – London City Airport – 239
September 9 – Lloyds Bank – 865
September 9 – Pizza Hut – 450
September 4 – Virgin Atlantic – 1,150
September 3 – Costa – 1,650
August 27 – Pret a Manger – 2,800 (includes 1,000 announced on July 6)
August 26 – Gatwick Airport – 600
August 25 – Co-operative Bank – 350
August 20 – Alexander Dennis – 650
August 18 – Bombardier – 95
August 18 – Marks & Spencer – 7,000
August 14 – Yo! Sushi – 250
August 14 – River Island – 350
August 12 – NatWest – 550
August 11 – InterContinental Hotels – 650 worldwide
August 11 – Debenhams – 2,500
August 7 – Evening Standard – 115
August 6 – Travelex – 1,300
August 6 – Wetherspoons – 110 to 130
August 5 – M&Co – 380
August 5 – Arsenal FC – 55
August 5 – WH Smith – 1,500
August 4 – Dixons Carphone – 800
August 4 – Pizza Express – 1,100 at risk
August 3 – Hays Travel – up to 878
August 3 – DW Sports – 1,700 at risk
July 31 – Byron – 651
July 30 – Pendragon – 1,800
July 29 – Waterstones – unknown number of head office roles
July 28 – Selfridges – 450
July 27 – Oak Furnitureland – 163 at risk
July 23 – Dyson – 600 in UK, 300 overseas
July 22 – Mears – fewer than 200
July 20 – Marks & Spencer – 950 at risk
July 17 – Azzurri Group (owns Zizzi and Ask Italian) – up to 1,200
July 16 – Genting – 1,642 at risk
July 16 – Burberry – 150 in UK, 350 overseas
July 15 – Banks Mining – 250 at risk
July 15 – Buzz Bingo – 573 at risk
July 14 – Vertu – 345 July 14 – DFS – up to 200 at risk
July 9 – General Electric – 369
July 9 – Eurostar – unknown number
July 9 – Boots – 4,000
July 9 – John Lewis – 1,300 at risk
July 9 – Burger King – 1,600 at risk
July 7 – Reach (owns Daily Mirror and Daily Express newspapers) – 550
July 6 – Pret a Manger – 1,000 at risk
July 2 – Casual Dining Group (owns Bella Italia and Cafe Rouge) – 1,909
July 1 – SSP (owns Upper Crust) – 5,000 at risk
July 1 – Arcadia (owns TopShop) – 500
July 1 – Harrods – 700
July 1 – Virgin Money – 300
June 30 – Airbus – 1,700
June 30 – TM Lewin – 600
June 30 – Smiths Group – 'some job losses'
June 25 – Royal Mail – 2,000
June 24 – Jet2 – 102
June 24 – Swissport – 4,556
June 24 – Crest Nicholson – 130
June 23 – Shoe Zone – unknown number of jobs in head office
June 19 – Aer Lingus – 500
June 17 – HSBC – unknown number of jobs in UK, 35,000 worldwide
June 15 – Jaguar Land Rover – 1,100
June 15 – Travis Perkins – 2,500
June 12 – Le Pain Quotidien – 200
June 11 – Heathrow – at least 500
June 11 – Bombardier – 600
June 11 – Johnson Matthey – 2,500
June 11 – Centrica – 5,000
June 10 – Quiz – 93
June 10 – The Restaurant Group (owns Frankie and Benny's) – 3,000
June 10 – Monsoon Accessorise – 545
June 10 – Everest Windows – 188
June 8 – BP – 10,000 worldwide
June 8 – Mulberry – 375
June 5 – Victoria's Secret – 800 at risk
June 5 – Bentley – 1,000
June 4 – Aston Martin – 500
June 4 – Lookers – 1,500
May 29 – Belfast International Airport – 45
May 28 – Debenhams (in second announcement) – 'hundreds' of jobs
May 28 – EasyJet – 4,500 worldwide
May 26 – McLaren – 1,200
May 22 – Carluccio's – 1,000
May 21 – Clarks – 900
May 20 – Rolls-Royce – 9,000
May 20 – Bovis Homes – unknown number
May 19 – Ovo Energy – 2,600
May 19 – Antler – 164
May 15 – JCB – 950 at risk
May 13 – Tui – 8,000 worldwide
May 12 – Carnival UK (owns P&O Cruises and Cunard) – 450
May 11 – P&O Ferries – 1,100 worldwide
May 5 – Virgin Atlantic – 3,150
May 1 – Ryanair – 3,000 worldwide
April 30 – Oasis Warehouse – 1,800
April 29 – WPP – unknown number
April 28 – British Airways – 12,000
April 23 – Safran Seats – 400
April 23 – Meggitt – 1,800 worldwide
April 21 – Cath Kidston – 900
April 17 – Debenhams – 422
March 31 – Laura Ashley – 268
March 30 – BrightHouse – 2,400 at risk
March 27 – Chiquito – 1,500 at risk