Ted Baker stores to disappear from UK high streets this summer

Ted Baker’s standalone presence on UK high streets could come to an end in August as administrators at Teneo have announced plans to shut all of the stores within three weeks.

It follows the business that operates the UK shops — No Ordinary Designer Label Limited (NODL) — going into administration back in March.

It would mean a large number of job losses at the brand that has also filed for bankruptcy protection in North America.

Some 15 UK stores had closed earlier and now staff at the rest of the chain have been told of the closure plan. The company had 46 UK stores and employed nearly a thousand people before the insolvency filing.

Reports said the plans aren’t completely finalised but whether that might mean a reprieve for some stores or not is unclear.

It’s a major fall from grace for the label that was once one of Britain’s highest-flying brands and that used its British strength as a springboard to expand globally. 

But the company began to struggle late last decade and didn’t recover from the devastation of the pandemic during this decade. 

It was acquired by Authentic Brands Group in 2022 and delisted from the London Stock exchange, the purchase also seeing it switched from a directly operated model to one in which licenses were assigned for various functions in different global markets.

But its license-holder for UK and European retail — Dutch firm AARC — faced a cash crunch as fashion retail reeled from the cost-of-living crisis and record high inflation.

Reebok and Juicy Couture owner Authentic continues to explore new partnership deals to manage the concessions, wholesale and e-tail ops of the brand. Again, this is another unknown as it’s not clear how close it is to any deal and whether future success might see Ted Baker standalone stores back on high streets and in malls.