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High Street retailer BHS looks set to file for administration later today after last-ditch rescue talks over the weekend came to nothing.
The collapse of the department store chain will leave 11,000 staff facing an uncertain future.
Press reports said talks with Sports Direct for some of BHS’s 164 stores broke down over the weekend.
Sir Philip Green sold the struggling chain to Retail Acquisitions for £1 last year, with the new owners pledging to turn around the fortunes of the struggling chain. However, it has not been able to raise £160m of funding needed to deliver the plan.
In March, the loss-making retailer won a reprieve after creditors agreed to a rescue package by way of a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) to reduce its rent liability.
But with a pension fund deficit of £571m, the company has been facing an uphill struggle to attract new investment needed to save the business.
Insolvency firm Duff & Phelps is reportedly lined up to handle the administration.
Morning update
Hotel Chocolat has this morning filed its official ‘schedule 1’ admission document to the London Stock Exchange ahead of its flotation. The document contains no extra details on how much capital will be raised in the IPO or how much the move will value the business. But the expected admission date to the AIM exchange is early to mid-May. The luxury chocolatier told The Grocer in March that the float would likely see Hotel Chocolate valued at about £150m, with founders Angus Thirwell and Peter Harris sharing a £40m pay day. The remaining £10m expected to be raised from the float will be used to expand its network of 84 shops, increase manufacturing capacity and launch a new website with enhanced mobile compatibility.
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