Stores in Oxford, Basingstoke, New Milton and Romsey are among the shops that will close following the sale of Jones Bootmaker, the footwear retailer, to Endless LLP, a private equity firm.
Nine staff will lose their jobs in Basingstoke and seven at the Oxford store. The concessions in New Milton and Romsey will see a further five jobs axed in each store.
As part of the sale process, Will Wright, Steve Absolom and Blair Nimmo of KPMG were appointed joint administrators. They completed an agreement to sell the majority of the business and assets to Endless, which sees the private equity firm acquire 72 stores, securing around 840 jobs in the UK.
There are 25 underperforming stores and six concessions which are not part of the sale and will close immediately, resulting in 262 job losses.
Will Wright, partner at KPMG and joint administrator, commented: “We are delighted that we have been able to rescue such an iconic UK footwear brand as Jones Bootmaker, including a high proportion of stores and preserving a large number of jobs, especially given the current economic pressures faced by retailers across the UK. This deal recognises the value of Jones as a strong and popular high street brand with a loyal customer base.”
Steve Absolom, joint administrator, added: “Whilst it is always pleasing to preserve a significant number of jobs, sadly a number of redundancies are to be made at the closed stores. Over the coming days, our priority is to ensure all employees who have been affected by redundancy receive the information and guidance they need in order to claim monies owed from the Redundancy Payments Office.”
Gateley plc advised Endless on the acquisition.