Administrators from EY have wasted no time in setting about closing stores and reducing staff numbers at the beleaguered LK Bennett fashion chain. Five stores have already been shuttered including two in London and others in Bristol, Liverpool and Sheffield and this has resulted in 55 immediate redundancies. The company’s website has also been suspended, whilst the rest of the store chain will continue to trade as a buyer is sought for the business.
EY has commented that it hopes to find a buyer for the brand. “LK Bennett is a strong luxury UK brand, the new season collection was critically acclaimed and recent trading is up, which we hope will be attractive to prospective buyers,” said joint administrator Dan Hurd.
LK Bennett is yet another in a series of brands acquired at their height by private equity investors only to ‘die a slow death’ without the founder at the helm. The LK Bennett business had seen a series of senior people drafted in over the years since Linda Bennett sold her controlling stake. Bennett re-gained control in Winter 2017 and had invested over £11 million in the business since in a bid to return it to profit, but her move was considered by many to have been made far too late to have a positive enough impact.
In the current climate, there are, in reality, going to be few potential buyers.
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