Jack Wills 'for sale' as all options for future are on table

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jul 9, 2019

The problems are mounting for Jack Wills and now it seems that the company's owner is considering selling the brand. The preppy fashion label, which was riding high not so many years ago, has struggled to achieve sales growth in recent periods and has been facing a cash crunch. 

Press reports said that KPMG has been appointed as its advisor and tasked with looking at all options for its future, which could include a sell-off.

Controlled by Bluegem Capital Partners, the company issued a statement late Monday saying KPMG has been brought on board “to carry out a review of the business and explore future opportunities. In the meantime, management remains focused on its strategy of new product development, improving margins and driving cost efficiencies, which is already reaping benefits,” The Guardian reported.

Sources suggested that the immediate reason behind the action was that the company’s bank, HSBC, threatened to withdraw its lending facilities and with Bluegem unwilling to pump more cash into the company after already having provided it with millions of pounds in funding, its options were limited.

It's hardly a secret that Jack Wills isn't the only formerly successful fashion retailer to have struggled in the ultra-challenging conditions of the last few years. Those conditions have forced some other major brands under and led to them now being under new ownership. That includes LK Bennett and Pretty Green, among others.

Jack Wills is currently seeking to cut costs and as with all companies in its position, store closures would be an option. The lease on the firm’s two-storey Covent Garden, London, flagship ends next spring and could be a candidate for closure.