Troubled fashion brand Joules is to shut 19 stores and cut 133 jobs after it was bought by retail rival Next and founder Tom Joule.
Next said it plans to continue to run around 100 of Joules’ 124 stores and will transfer over around 1,450 members of shop and head office staff.
The deal will see Next own a 74% stake in the business, with Tom Joule owning the remaining 26% share.
The company - which has nine stores in Scotland - drafted in administrators from Interpath Advisory last month after failing to secure emergency funding, following a surge in costs and slowdown in customers demand.
Tom Joule said: “After three years away from the operational side, I’m truly looking forward to inspiring teams with clear direction to excite and recapture the imagination of the customer again.
“I’m so pleased that we have been able to strike a deal that protects the future of the company for all its loyal customers, its employees and also for the town of Market Harborough, which have been so central to Joules’ success.”
After his company announced it would rescue retailer Joules in a deal where more than 90% of jobs will be saved, Next chief executive Simon Wolfson said its products would be put on his Total Platform, which sells goods from other brands.
Lord Wolfson said: “We are excited to see what can be achieved through the combination of Joules’ exceptional product, marketing and brand building skills with Next’s Total Platform infrastructure.”
Will Wright, head of restructuring at Interpath Advisory, said: “Following a highly competitive process, we are pleased to have concluded this transaction which secures the future of this great British brand, as well as safeguarding a significant number of jobs.
“To have achieved this in such a short timetable is testament to the support we’ve received from employees, suppliers and other key stakeholders throughout the administration process, so we’d like to express our profound thanks to everyone involved.”
The move comes only weeks after Next bought the brand, websites and intellectual property for online furniture business Made.com, after it also collapsed.
That administration resulted in 320 redundancies, while a further 79 employees who had resigned and were working their notice were forced to immediately leave.
The full list of Joules shops that are now closed permanently is:
- Carmarthen
- Cheltenham
- Chichester
- Edinburgh
- Exeter
- Gateshead
- Lyme Regis
- Newbury
- Northcote Road
- Oxford
- Peak Village
- Peterborough
- Reigate
- Salcombe Fore Street
- Sherborne
- Southwold Little Joule
- St Davids
- Waterloo
- Watford
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