Crew Clothing acquires surfwear brand Saltrock

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Aug 23, 2018

A subsidiary of Crew Clothing has acquired Saltrock, a Devon-based leisurewear brand, via a pre-pack deal immediately after it fell into administration on Friday. The deal will save 25 stores and 162 jobs.

The brand, previously owned by Natatomisan Ltd, had been struggling with growing import costs following the pound’s fall in value after the Brexit vote. It appointed David Pike and Mark Orton from KPMG were appointed joint administrators on Friday.

Whilst the acquisition will save hundreds of jobs, five stores will close resulting in 29 redundancies.

David Pike, joint administrator and partner at KPMG, said: “The sale via ‘pre pack’ was required to provide the business with as much stability as possible by securing a new owner and finance for the business. This deal will see over 160 jobs transfer to the new owners. Sadly a number of redundancies will be made and over the coming days, our priority is to ensure all employees who have been affected receive the information and support they need in order to claim monies owed from the Redundancy Payments Office.”

Departing Saltrock chairman James Brent commented: “We are proud of the growth we’ve achieved over the last eight years, but now is the time for Crew to drive the business forward.

“We wish them and the employees every success in the future. Saltrock is a very strong brand with a great story and team behind it. We very much look forward to seeing them realise the potential of the business and are pleased that they are retaining the significant majority of staff-at head office, in the distribution centre and stores.”

Crew Clothing highlighted Saltrock’s strong South West presence and its roots as a surfwear brand. ““Through this transaction we have now added Saltrock to our growing and successful business portfolio,” said David Butler, Crew Clothing CEO.

“It presents us with a huge opportunity and allows us to maximise our supply chain and operations giving great potential to the Salt Rock brand. We welcome their employees to our team and we aim to make the transition as smooth as possible for them.”