Eighteen branches of the Barratts and Priceless shoe chains are to close before Christmas, as administrators advance on their quest to find buyers for parts of the chains.
The company called in administrators at the beginning of December, who embarked on an intensive effort to restructure and sell parts of the business. The administrators, from financial services firm Deloitte, are now shutting five Barratts shops and 13 Priceless outlets, however, after they were found to be unviable.
Daniel Butters, from Deloitte's restructuring services practice, said that they would be keeping the remaining 173 shops operating - which employ 3,670 people - while they continue on their mission to find a buyer or buyers. The administrators have also tried to streamline the business and its overheads by cutting more than 40 staff at the company's headquarters in Bradford.
"Regrettably, we have been unable to continue to trade all of the Barratts Priceless group stores and have had to make 127 employees across 18 stores redundant," Butters said.
"In addition, a total of 43 staff were made redundant from the head office based in Bradford […] We have provided the employees with full briefings to help them understand their position and the further support available through the Redundancy Payments Office."
