Ted Baker to close a third of UK stores, including those in major malls

After its UK arm’s administration filing, Ted Baker is to close 15 of its British stores with as many as 245 jobs being lost as a result.

Administrators Teneo said 11 stores will shut by 19 April with an initial 120 in-store jobs being axed and 25 roles at its HQ. They include flagship locations with stores in London Bridge, Bromley, Birmingham Bullring, Bristol, Cambridge, Exeter, Leeds, Liverpool One, Milton Keynes, Nottingham and Oxford all preparing to shut down.

They’re said to be loss-making with the administrators saying they “have no prospect of being returned to profitability, even with material rent reductions”.

Landlords had also served notice on four other stores, again in high-profile locations such as London’s Brompton Road and Floral Street in Covent Garden, as well as Bicester and Manchester Trafford. They will shut within weeks. A further 100 redundancies will go alongside those closures.

The 15 shuttered stores mean almost a third of the stores in the label’s domestic market are being axed.

Authentic Brands Group bought the business a little over 18 month ago for around £210 million. Dutch company AARC was appointed in spring last year as the distribution partner in key markets, including the UK. But cost inflation, the cost-of-living crisis, supply chain issues and unseasonal weather patterns meant it struggled and Authentic eventually cut ties with it.

The British arm is No Ordinary Designer Label (NODL), which licenses the Ted Baker brand from Authentic. It appointed administrators last month.

Joint administrator Benji Dymant said the move 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”.