Bonmarche staff face anxious wait

STAFF at Oldham’s Bonmarche store face an anxious wait after a buy-out that will lead to 1,400 job losses and 160 store closures across the country.

Private equity firm Sun European Partners, which also owns the Alexon and Jacques Vert brands, has bought the women’s clothing retailer out of administration in a so–called pre–pack deal for an undisclosed sum.

Sun, which bought the entire chain apart from three stores, has said it will continue to run 230 stores but will close about 160.

The store closures mean it will continue to employ about 2,400 of the chain’s 3,800 strong work force.

The company said it was too early to release a list of sites to be closed.

Bonmarche, founded in 1982, was part of the Peacocks Group, which last week collapsed into administration under its £750 million debt mountain in the biggest retail failure since Woolworths, placing 9,600 jobs in jeopardy.

But whereas administrators at KPMG were called in to take charge of the Peacocks chain, Bonmarche was kept out of administration to allow sale talks to continue.

Pre–pack deals, where a chain is placed into administration and immediately bought in a previously–arranged deal, are controversial because they allow the new buyers to take on the chain but write off many of its debts.

The deal means the Bonmarche name will survive on the high street, albeit with fewer stores. The chain is one of the UK’s largest women’s–only value retailers and sells affordable clothing in a wide range of sizes to women over 45 years old.

Chris Laverty, joint administrator at KPMG, said: “Given the hostile conditions on the high street, we’re pleased to have concluded a sale with Sun European Partners. The deal is a positive step forward in underscoring Bonmarche’s future.”

Sun, which is ultimately based in the US, will also take on Bonmarche’s head office in Wakefield.

The sale of Bonmarche will free up administrators to look for a buyer for the Peacocks chain, which has 563 stores and 48 concessions.

Fifty firms are thought to have registered an interest and initial bids are expected by the end of the month.

There are Bonmarche and Peacocks stores in Spindles Town Square shopping centre, while Peacocks also has a returns department, at Broadway Business Park in Chadderton.