Bonmarché appoints RSM for second administration in 18 months
Days after the collapse of retail empire Arcadia, fashion retailer Bonmarché has fallen into administration, placing 1,500 jobs at risk. The further blow to the UK high street sees Bonmarché appoint administrators for the second time in 18 months.
RSM Restructuring Advisory has been appointed as administrator to BM Retail Limited, which operates the Bonmarché brand from 225 stores in the UK. While no redundancies or store closures have been made immediately, administrators have launched an urgent sales process for the business.
Damian Webb, joint administrator of RSM Restructuring Advisory, said, “It is our intention to continue to trade whilst working closely with management to explore the options for the business. We will shortly be marketing the business for sale and based on the interest to date we anticipate there will be a number of interested parties. We would like to thank the Bonmarché staff for continuing to support the business during these challenging and uncertain times for those individuals personally.”
Bonmarché is a clothing retailer based in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. The business was founded in 1982, and quickly grew into a chain of around 300 stores, a huge headquarters at Grange Moor, with a turnover of more than £200 million. In January 2012, the business was purchased for an undisclosed sum by private equity group Sun European Partners. What followed has become an all-too-familiar trend in global retail; a previously strong brand suffering a swift decline by private equity partners keen to turn a profit on their investment as quickly as possible. Despite a series of rescue bids, it was placed into administration in October 2019, with FRP Advisory overseeing that process.
This time, RSM has said it anticipates there will be “a number of interested parties,” which hopefully will be able to secure the longer term future of the company. Around 1,500 people are currently employed by Bonmarché.
The news comes days after Topshop owner Arcadia filed for administration. The retail group, which owns Topshop, Miss Selfridge and Burton among others, appointed administrators from Deloitte, after months of speculation regarding the future of the embattled firm, and puts more than 13,000 jobs.
