Struggling UK fashion retailer Ted Baker to shut 15 stores, 250 jobs at risk

(Reuters) - About 15 Ted Baker stores in the UK will be shut down, including shops in London Bridge and Milton Keynes, leading to nearly 250 job losses, joint administrators of the collapsed British fashion retailer said on Monday.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Ted Baker, a popular brand name in the UK, fell into administration last month, after more than a year of being sold to U.S.-based Authentic Brands Group.

Authentic Brands is looking for a new operating partner for the retail and e-commerce business in the UK and across Europe.

CONTEXT

No Ordinary Designer Label (NODL), which trades under Ted Baker's brand in the UK, had appointed Teneo Financial Advisory as its administrator on March 22.

British fashion retailers have been struggling with tough market conditions. Peer Superdry said earlier this year that it did not expect market conditions to improve in the near term.

BY THE NUMBERS

The administrators said they decided to close 11 Ted Baker stores by April 19 and that would result in the loss of about 120 roles.

Around 25 head office roles have also been made redundant.

Separately, the administrators said prior to their involvement, landlords had also served notice on four more stores that will close in the coming weeks and result in a further 100 layoffs.

KEY QUOTES

"The closing stores are all currently loss-making and, following review by the Joint Administrators, are deemed to have no prospect of being returned to profitability, even with material rent reductions," the administrators said.

"These store closures, whilst with a regrettable impact on valued team members, will improve the performance of the business," Joint Administrator Benji Dymant said.

(Reporting by Anchal Rana in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)