Blow as Peacocks move puts jobs in danger

Thousands of jobs are at risk after a fashion chain with Tayside and Fife shops fell into administration.

Peacocks confirmed yesterday that the y have appo in ted administrators, putting 423 stores and more than 4,000 jobs at risk.

The chain operates branches in Arbroath, Kirkcaldy and Leven. The c h a i n’s Fo r f a r branch closed suddenly in September.

Peacocks is part of the Edinburgh Woollen Mi l l (EWM) retail empire, which also includes the Jaeger brand , which has a l so appo in t ed administrators from FRP Advisory.

The administrators said no redundancies or store closures have been confirmed yet.

Jaeger, which was bought by EMW ’s billionaire owner Philip Day in May 2017, runs 76 s to r e s and concess ions and employs 347 staff.

Mr Day’s EWM Group had already placed its Edinburgh Wo o l l e n Mill and Ponden Home b u s i n e s s i n t o administration earlier this month.

Tony Wright, joint administrator and partner at FRP, said: “Jaeger and Peacocks are attractive brands that have suffered the well-known challenges many retailers face at present.

“We are in advanced discussions with a number of parties and working hard to secure a future for both businesses.”

An EWM Group spokeswoman said: “In recent weeks we have had construct ive discussions with a number of potential buyers for Peacocks and Jaeger Ltd, but th e con t inu ing deterioration of the retail sector due to the impact of the pandemic and second lockdown have made this process longer and more complex than we would have hoped.”