Peacocks owner Edinburgh Woollen Mill goes into administration with 2,571 jobs at risk

HIGH Street giant Edinburgh Woollen Mill has put the stores of the same name into administration.

It means the likely loss of 2,571 jobs as hundreds of shops are shuttered.

EWM, which employs more than 21,000 people in all, also includes Peacocks, Jane Norman, Bonmarche, Jaeger and Austin Reed.

There are around 384 stores that bear the Edinburgh Woollen Mill name.

Ponden Home, also part of the group, has also been put into administration. Insolvency firms FRP is handling the process.

It means today 750 staff at The Edinburgh Woollen Mill and 116 employees at Ponden Home were made redundant.

Both shops will stay open and continue to trade until a decision is made by administrators on the future of the business.

EWM has been hit by poor trading in lockdown coupled with a credit insurance problem.

CEO Steve Simpson has called the trading environment “brutal”.

It comes as Philip Day, the billionaire owner of the retail giant, is expected to return to court today to seek more time to save his brands Peacocks and Jaeger.

He is understood to be working on a pre-pack deal for Peacocks that would see the 400-store chain go through administration and be immediately sold back to him and his finance partner Davidson Kempner.

That would safeguard jobs at Peacocks which employs 10,000 across the UK.

Meanwhile, Jaeger has attracted the most interest from buyers, with rival retail tycoon Mike Ashley said to be interested.

Torque Brands, an outfit that recently bought shirt-maker TM Lewin, is also among the potential buyers.

Tony Wright, joint administrator and partner at FRP, said: “Recent months have proven extremely challenging for many retailers, even those that were trading well before the pandemic, including the teams at Edinburgh Woollen Mill and Ponden Home.

“The administrations will provide some further protection while we continue our search for buyers to secure the long-term futures for both businesses.”