Next has won the bidding race to take over the Russell & Bromley premium footwear business, ending almost a century-and-a-half of family ownership.
Russell & Bromley
Working with bidding partner and stock clearance specialist Retail Realisation, it’s set to takeover the 147-year-old retailer under a pre-pack administration deal.
Crucially, it means 33 of the company’s standalone stores/outlets and nine concessions (many of them in Fenwicks branches) are likely to eventually close.
The extent of the challenges Russell & Bromley faced can be seen from the fact that this is only a £2.5 million cash deal. Next is also paying £1.3 million for some of the retailer’s current stock with Retail Realisation handling the clearance of the rest.
Assuming the deal gets court approval on Wednesday afternoon, Next will own the intellectual property and just three of the stores.
Those stores are in London’s Chelsea and Mayfair, as well as the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent. Interestingly, that Bluewater store is just a stone’s throw away from the former House of Fraser branch that this year will reopen as a Next megastore.
The remaining stores and concessions will continue to trade for “as long as [they] can” as Interpath’s Will Wright and Chris Pole “assess options for them”. Russell & Bromley currently has around 440 employees.
A source close to another bidder, Auralis, told The Times it was disappointing that its offer, which aimed to safeguard jobs and stores, wasn’t given greater priority by those running the sale.
Russell & Bromley CEO Andrew Bromley called the sale decision a “difficult” one but insisted it’s “the best route to secure the future for the brand… we would like to thank our staff, suppliers, partners and customers for their support throughout our history”.
So what are Next’s plans now. That’s not clear. There had been a lot of attention focused on its likelihood of closing the store chain in the run-up to the sale but on Wednesday, Next said that it will “build on the legacy” of the business and “provide the operational stability and expertise to support Russell & Bromley’s next chapter”.
Next had also been reported to be eyeing a similar deal for LK Bennett, but Sky News reported that it has stepped away from this.
It remains one of the most acquisitive retailers on the UK high street, however, and in recent years has bought brands such as Cath Kidston, Joules, FatFace, Made and Seraphine. It also has deals to handle other key brands in the UK market such as Gap, Victoria’s Secret and Laura Ashley.
