680 jobs cut as Barratts finds buyers
BARRATTS PRICELESS, the collapsed shoe chain, is set to make another 680 people redundant after its founder and chief executive Michael Ziff agreed to rescue the majority of its stores.
Administrators Deloitte said the existing management team had bought 89 Barratts and Priceless stores for an undisclosed sum, safeguarding 1,184 jobs. However, 39 shops and 14 concessions will be axed in addition to the 18 stores closed before Christmas.
Barratts collapsed into administration last month, blaming a downturn in consumer spending and unseasonably mild weather which had depressed sales of its new winter lines.
The retailer joins a list of high street casualties, including Blacks Leisure and La Senza, which have collapsed over the past month.
It is the second time in less than three years that the firm has been put into administration after Ziff, chairman of Barratts Priceless parent company Stylo, bought 160 shops from Deloitte in 2009.