Cath Kidston’s remaining stores to close after Next acquisition
Next has acquired the brand and intellectual property of Cath Kidston for £8.5m, although the brand’s four remaining stores are set to close.
Once a mainstay on UK high streets, Cath Kidston collapsed in 2020 leading to the loss of hundreds of jobs. It was subsequently rescued by Baring Private Equity Asia and sold to Hilco Capital.
The retailer has since fallen back into administration.
125 jobs are at risk within Cath Kidston’s stores in London, Ashford, Cheshire Oaks, and York.
Zelf Hussain and Rachael Wilkinson of PwC were appointed as joint administrators of the clothing and homeware retailer, with its sale completed upon their appointment.
Hussain said: “The company has over recent years navigated through incredibly challenging market conditions including the pandemic restrictions, and most recently the decline in consumer spending driven by cost of living pressures and rising costs.
“In the short term its four stores will continue to remain open whilst operations are wound down. Sadly, there will be redundancies during this period of wind down and we will continue to support the staff throughout this period.”
The acquisition is Next’s third in the previous six months, having rescued both Joules in December and Made.com just weeks before. Since its acquisition of a 25% stake in Reiss in 2021, Next has made nine other investments, which the retailer said delivered £16.8m in the last year.
Meanwhile, Next has posted its full year results for the year to January 2023. The retailer saw an increase in sales of 8.4% to £5.14bn, while its profit before tax rose by 5.7% to £870.4m.