Hundreds of jobs lost as 15 Ted Baker stores to close across UK

Hundreds of people will be made redundant as 15 Ted Baker stores are set to close across UK, administrators have said.

Last month, the US owner of the fashion chain announced it was appointing administrators, with Teneo the firm appointed.

On Monday, it announced the closure of 15 stores across the UK, resulting in about 245 redundancies.

The first store was opened by founder Ray Kelvin in Glasgow in 1988 and went onto become a globally recognised fashion brand.

The 11 UK stores will be closed by April 19, resulting in the loss of about 120 store roles.

About 25 head office roles will be made redundant as a result of plans to reduce central costs at the fashion chain.

A further four stores were earmarked for closure prior to the firm entering administration, it has been revealed, which will result in about 100 additional redundancies.

These four stores will be closed in the coming weeks, according to the administration team at Teneo Financial Advisory.

Authentic Brands Group (ABG), which bought the retailer in 2022, filed a notice of intent to appoint joint administrators in March.

Ted Baker founder Ray Kelvin is rarely photographed without something covering half his face. Getty Images

The US group cited “damage done” to the fashion brand during the time Dutch company AARC had been running its Ted Baker stores and e-commerce business in Europe – a tie-up that ended in January.

Authentic Brands had said Ted Baker stores and the retailer’s website would continue to trade.

Ted Baker has a store on Glasgow’s Buchanan Street and an outlet in Livingston.

In September 2022, Ted Baker announced that its shareholders had overwhelmingly approved a £232m takeover offer that would see the business go private.

It meant the fashion retailer would be bought by Authentic Brands, which owns Forever 21 and Reebok, after Ted Baker put itself up for sale amid troubles following the global Covid outbreak.

The brand was among luxury retailers hammered by the pandemic, but it had also gone into Covid in a weak spot following years of decline and was in the middle of a plan to revamp the business.

Founder and chief executive Ray Kelvin stepped away from his position after accusations of inappropriate behaviour.

Mr Kelvin, who denies the allegations, remains a shareholder in the business which he set up in Glasgow in 1988.