More high street stores could suffer BHS’s fate
LEADING retail analysts are suggesting more high street retailers could join BHS on the scrapheap.
Around 11,000 people lost their jobs at BHS shops including in Birmingham, Coventry, Stratford and Solihull, following BHS’ fall into administration in April.
The chain’s former owner Sir Philip Green was branded the “unacceptable face of capitalism” as a parliamentary inquiry found he took huge amounts of capital from the group while leaving its pension fund in deficit.
Sir Philip and his family took £400 million in dividends during his 15-year ownership of the company but the pension scheme had a £571 million deficit when it fell into administration.
And Kantar Worldpanel says its latest figures showed that shoppers spent £700 million less on clothing, shoes and accessories in the year to September 25 than they did during the previous 12 months.
The sector experienced four consecutive months of falling sales, statistics reveal, which is the sharpest decline to hit the £36 billion UK fashion market since 2009, in the midst of the banking crisis. Retailers have been hit by a combination of factors, Kantar say, ranging from unseasonal weather to fragile consumer confidence.
Worried shoppers are counting their pennies said to be after the Brexit vote in the EU Referendum in June. Kantar predict that retail sales could worsen next year – and they fear another major retailer could yet follow BHS and close.
Glen Tooke, of Kantar, said: “Only 10 of our top fashion retailers are worth more than the £700 million which the market has lost, so this decline is equal to one of them disappearing from our high streets.
“Given the events of this summer this [the closure of another retailer] no longer seems impossible.”
After the collapse of British Home Stores as a high street retailer, the company has re-launched kitchen and dining ware as well as its clothing ranges online.
BHS.com’s launch products constitute around 75 per cent of the most popular online items the retailer sold before it went into administration.
For launch, it is sourcing products from 23 suppliers, all of whom are in the UK.
The new BHS, which is based in London, has 84 employees – the majority of whom worked for the retailer before it went into administration.