24,000 FACING AXE AT
Fashion store’s group in trouble
HIGH Street fashion giant Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group is on the brink of collapse.
The company, which owns Peacocks, Jaeger and Ponden Home, has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators to look for buyers.
Bosses wrote to its 24,000 staff, warning that the lockdown had hit sales heavily.
And EWM said it has been hit hard by allegations, which it denies, of failing to pay some Bangladeshi suppliers during lockdown to cut costs for clothes they are unlikely to sell.
The move by the group, owned by businessman Philip Day, will see insolvency specialists at FRP spend 10 days carrying out an urgent review
ahead of further action – but all stores will continue trading and further details will be announced in due course.
Chief executive Steve Simpson said: “Like every retailer, we have found the past seven months extremely difficult. This situation has grown worse in recent weeks as we have had to deal with a series of false rumours about our payments and trading.
“Traditionally, EWM has always traded with strong cash reserves and a conservative balance sheet, but these stories, the reduction in credit insurance, against the backdrop of the lockdown and now this second wave of Covid- 19 and local lockdowns, have made normal trading impossible.
“As directors we have a duty to the business, our staff, our customers and our creditors to find the very best solution in this brutal environment.
“So we have applied to court today for a short breathing space to assess our options before moving to appoint administrators.”