Homebase saves Bathstore shops
HOMEBASE has bought collapsed bathroom specialist Bathstore, but more than 200 jobs at the chain are still at risk.
The DIY retailer, rebuilding under restructuring group Hilco after a disastrous two-year ownership by Australia’s Wesfarmers, has acquired 44 Bathstore outlets and its website.
The deal secures 154 jobs and Homebase is also planning to open a “significant number” of Bathstore concessions across its own 186-store estate over the next 18 months.
Some 159 redundancies have already been made at Bathstore since BDO were appointed as administrators last month. It employed 531 staff across its 135 stores and head office before its collapse following several months of “difficult trading” and the failure to find a buyer.
The remaining stores not being transferred to Homebase as part of the sale will continue to trade for a number of weeks while remaining display stock is sold off. BDO business restructuring partner Ryan Grant said: “In a difficult situation, we have been able to secure the future of the Bathstore brand and the transfer of 44 stores to Homebase to maximise realisations for creditors and protect as many jobs as possible.”
Homebase chief executive Damian McGloughlin said Bathstore’s “excellent products” would complement its own “reinvigorated” range.
The business is set to break even this year before moving back into the black in 2020.
He said: “Since the launch of our turnaround plan... we have been focusing on reintroducing the popular ranges and products that our customers have been crying out for.”