By Tuesday, August 20, all outlets of the fashion brand are expected to be closed. No Ordinary Designer Label (NODL), the company that manages Ted Baker’s UK stores, went into administration in March this year.
In April 2024, 15 stores were closed and 245 jobs were reduced. One analyst called the brand’s decline a “prolonged corporate car crash.”
“Ted Baker is a rags to riches rags to riches story about the British rag trade, a great shame,” Shore Capital’s Clive Black commented to the BBC, noting that it is a “dark time” for workers facing unemployment.
Before the collapse, Ted Baker employed around 975 people in the UK. He managed 46 stores, online platforms and department store franchises.
NODL currently employs 513 people across the UK across Ted Baker retail locations and its head office.
Ted Baker’s intellectual property rights are owned by US-based Authentic Brands Group, while NODL maintained the brand’s operations in the UK.
Authentic Brands Group said the “damages” from the previous partnership were “too much to overcome” when NODL went into administration in March.
The administrators announced in April that Authentic was in “discussions with potential UK and European operating partners for the Ted Baker brand”.
Sky News stated on Sunday that discussions about a possible future licensing partnership had reached an impasse.
Born as a menswear brand in Glasgow in 1988, Ted Baker expanded stores to the UK and the US, as well as licensing deals for stores in various cities in Asia and the Middle East.
However, the brand has experienced instability in recent years, starting in 2019 when founder Ray Kelvin resigned following allegations of misconduct, which he denied.
The following year, his successor Lindsay Page and chairman David Bernstein resigned after a profit warning.
“A modern, aspirational and distinctly British snazzy brand, Ted Baker never recovered from the misconduct, which led to a prolonged wilting of the vine,” commented analyst Clive Black.
Retail analyst Catherine Shuttleworth told the BBC that despite the brand’s long-term strength, “a lack of investment combined with disillusionment” was causing shoppers to look elsewhere for inspiration, making it difficult for the brand to “continue to survive”.
The 31 stores to close are located in: Ashford, Bath, Belfast, Bluewater Shopping Center in Kent, Braintree, Brent Cross in London, Bridgend, Cannock, Cheshire Oaks, Dublin, Grafton Street, Gatwick North, Gatwick South, Glasgow Buchanan Street, Gloucester Quays, Heathrow T2, T3, T4, T5, Kildare, Livingston, Luton, Manchester Shambles, O2 Outlet, Portsmouth, Regent Street in London, Sheffield, St Pancras in London, Stansted, Swindon, White City in London and York.
Ted Baker said goodbye to its UK customers by displaying the message “Goodbye for now” on its website, telling customers they had 14 days to return the products and noting it was “not taking orders right now”.
However, the changes do not affect the license agreements for the company’s stores in Asia and the Middle East.
