Ted Baker closes final stores putting 500 jobs at risk

“Ted Baker is a rags to riches to rags story of the British rag-trade, a great shame”, Shore Capital’s Clive Black told the BBC, adding that it was a “dark time” for those who were losing their jobs.

Before it fell into administration, Ted Baker had about 975 employees in the UK and ran 46 shops, plus an e-commerce platform and department store concessions.

NODL currently employs 513 staff in the UK across the Ted Baker stores and head office. In Ireland it has 78 employees.

US firm Authentic Brands Group owns the intellectual property to Ted Baker, while NODL was the holding company for the brand in the UK.

When NODL fell into administration in March, Authentic said the “damage done” during a tie-up with another firm was “too much to overcome”.

In April, administrators said that Authentic was continuing “discussions with potential UK and European operating partners for the Ted Baker brand”.

However, Sky News, which first reported the latest store closures, external, said on Sunday that talks over a potential future licensing partnership had stalled.

Ted Baker began as a menswear brand in Glasgow in 1988 and grew to have shops across the UK and in the United States, with licensing agreements in place for stores in cities in Asia and the Middle East.

But it has suffered in the past few years from instability, starting in 2019 when founder Ray Kelvin resigned after allegations of misconduct, which he denied.

His successor Lindsay Page and chairman David Bernstein resigned the following year following a profit warning.

“From a modern, aspirational and distinctly British snazzy brand, Ted Baker never recovered from allegations of inappropriate behaviour, leading to a prolonged period of withering on the vine”, Mr Black said.