2,000 jobs saved in rescue deal at fashion chain Peacocks
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Chief operating officer Steve Simpson will take over the business, saving 2,000 jobs and 200 stores, which he hopes to reopen once lockdown restrictions on non-essential retailers ease.
Peacocks had 400 stores going into the pandemic a year ago and announced job losses and store closures as it struggled to manage under the various restrictions.
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Hide AdIt has shops on The Moor, at Crystal Peaks Shopping Centre, Fox Valley Shopping Centre in Stocksbridge and Hillsborough Shopping Centre, Middlewood Road, Hillsborough. It also has outlets in Worksop and Doncaster.
The chain had a poor online presence compared with rivals and – along with Arcadia and Debenhams – struggled to recoup business through its websites, leading to its collapse.
Mr Day was the biggest creditor of Peacocks and is owed money by the business he once owned.
Administrators FRP negotiated a deal with him by signing a deferred loan agreement between a consortium of investors and the businessman which will eventually see him get his money out of the company.
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Hide AdThe consortium of international backers are primarily based in Dubai, where Mr Day lives.
The chain was part of retail mogul Philip Day’s Edinburgh Woollen Mill fashion empire which collapsed in November last year.
A similar deal was set in place with the Edinburgh Woollen Mill and Bonmarche brands, while Mr Day’s other brand, Jaeger, was sold to Marks & Spencer, where it will Edinburgh Woollen Mill.