Gift retailer Peter Jones in administration
ALL STORES WILL CLOSE AND 70 STAFF MADE REDUNDANT
A WELL-KNOWN Yorkshire gift retailer has collapsed into administration, with nearly 70 staff made redundant.
Wakefield-based Peter Jones (China), which sells a range of homeware goods, has stores across Yorkshire but none of them have reopened since the country went into lockdown on March 23.
Now, all of its 10 stores across Yorkshire, including three in Wakefield and others in Barnsley, Doncaster, Castleford, Huddersfield, Pontefract, Batley and Wetherby, will all shut for good, after it was announced the firm had gone into administration.
Sixty-seven members of staff have all lost their jobs and Howard Smith and Dave Costley-Wood, from KPMG’s Restructuring practice, have been appointed joint administrators of the company.
The remaining staff are assisting the administrators with the winding down of the business.
The company enters insolvency after a period of weak trading followed by significant cash flow pressure related to the COVID-19 lockdown.
Mr Smith said: “Lockdown was a challenge too far for this retailer’s finances and in the unfortunate situation that it cannot continue to trade, we are managing a sale of its stock, in order to seek a return for creditors, and managing the wind down process.
“An employment specialist within the administration team is liaising with the workforce about their next steps.”
According to the company’s website, the firm has been trading for over 50 years, beginning in 1963 when young entrepreneur Peter Jones set up in business with a small china shop in Wakefield.
It says on the website: “Over the past 50 years, Peter has overseen a remarkable story as the business has grown to become a successful specialist retailer with a worldwide reputation for supplying the world’s top brands in China and Crystal.
“We now boast ten shops across the North of England, specialising in a wonderful array of China, Crystal, Cookware, Ladies Accessories and Jewellery.”
Any parties interested in the business’ stock should contact richard. starkey@kpmg.co.uk.