FRP Advisory appointed for Peacocks and Jaeger administrations

Peacocks and Jaeger have been placed into administration by parent company EWM Group, putting over 4,700 jobs at risk. Administrators from FRP Advisory were appointed for the fashion chains, and as of yet no redundancies or store closures have been made.

British retail was already facing a sustained downturn before the advent of coronavirus – however the global pandemic has dramatically deepened the crisis many firms now face. Earlier in 2020, falling consumer spending power and social distancing measures led to a huge number of British retailers having to close business completely. According to the Confederation of British Industry, by the end of April, 96% of retailers were reporting cash-flow difficulties, with the pandemic having exacerbating long-running trends in the embattled high street.

Now, fashion retailers Peacocks and Jaeger have become the latest victims of the high street collapse, with parent company EWM Group having failed to find a buyer. As a result, weeks after placing its Edinburgh Woollen Mill and Ponden Home businesses into administration, EWM has been forced to do the same to the clothing companies.

According to a statement from EWM, in recent weeks the firm had been in “constructive discussions with a number of potential buyers,” however they blamed “the continuing deterioration of the retail sector due to the impact of the pandemic and second lockdown” having made the process “longer and more complex than we would have hoped.” Tony Wright and Alastair Massey, both partners at business consultancy FRP Advisory, were appointed as joint administrators as a two-week High Court deadline for EWM to do so expired.

Peacocks is based in Cardiff and has 423 shops across the country with 4,369 staff, while Jaeger runs 76 stores and concessions and has 347 employees. As a result, while FRP did not announce any redundancies upon their appointment, the UK press has reported that 4,700 jobs and nearly 500 shops are now under threat.

Wright said, “Jaeger and Peacocks are attractive brands that have suffered the well-known challenges that many retailers face at present. We are in advanced discussions with a number of parties and working hard to secure a future for both businesses.”