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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Business
Sam Barker

Fashion retailer Joules to shut 19 stores TODAY after being bought by Next

Joules has been bought out of administration by Next and founder Tom Joule - but 19 stores are set to close.

The deal will see Next own a 74% stake in the business, with Tom Joule owning the remaining 26% share.

Next said that it plans to continue to run around 100 of Joules' 124 stores.

Roughly 1,450 employees will be transferred across - but more than 100 staff have lost their jobs.

Joules sells clothing and homeware products inspired by the countryside and is most famous for its posh wellies.

But the firm called in administrators last month after running into trouble when costs soared and fewer customers made purchases.

Most Joules stores will keep trading following the bailout deal (PA)

Parent company Joules Group, which also owns The Garden Trading Company, called in administrators after failing to secure funding.

Administrators at Interpath Advisory confirmed that 133 redundancies have been made after the rescue deal.

Tom Joule said the business needs to “recapture” the imagination of its customers again after it was announced he was teaming up with Next in a rescue deal for the clothes retailer.

Mr Joule said: “After three years away from the operational side, I’m truly looking forward to inspiring teams with clear direction to excite and recapture the imagination of the customer again.

Next chief executive Simon Wolfson said that the company’s products would be put on his Total Platform which sells goods from other brands.

Two weeks ago the parent firm of Joules warned the company was on the brink of collapse, putting 1,600 jobs at risk.

The brand held emergency talks with investors after warning it may not be able to repay a £5million loan by the end of November.

Joules Group - which was founded by Tom Joule in 1989 - also requested that shares in the company were suspended.

Last month Next bought the brand of trendy furniture store Made.com after it also fell into administration.

Next paid £3.4million for the brand, website and intellectual property.

Administrators at PricewaterhouseCoopers confirmed 320 employees are being made redundant, while a further 79 workers who had resigned and were working their notice periods have also been let go.

A further 74 staff members will stay on to help with the wind down.

There are also 100 overseas staff who face an uncertain future.

Made.com had originally hoped to find a buyer for the whole business - but an offer by its co-founder and former boss was rejected.

Made.com, which was founded in 2010, sold trendy furniture and home furnishings online and also had two showrooms - one in London and the other in Yorkshire.

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