800 redundancies as Duff & Phelps to close Allders
Administrators have been unable to find a buyer for Croyden-based Allders and will cease trading the business in two weeks
DUFF & PHELPS administrators have said they will close department store Allders after they were unable to find a buyer.
Geoff Bouchier, Matthew Bond and Philip Duffy were appointed joint-administrators to the retailer, putting about 300 store jobs at risk. There are a further 500 staff employed at the concessions.
The final day of trading is expected to be 22 September.
A statement from the administrators said: “Although a number of parties expressed interest during the marketing process, no formal offer was received and the remaining interested party withdrew their interest within the last 24 hours.”
Bouchier, partner at Duff & Phelps, said: “It is with sadness that we are making this announcement as we recognise that the store is an historic and iconic landmark in the local community.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff of Allders, the concession partners, Croydon Council and the landlord Minerva for their continued support throughout the administration trading period.”
The 150-year-old store was part-owned by Harold Tilman, who also owned fashion retail business Aquascutum which entered administration this year. However, FRP administrators managed to sell the majority of the UK business and assets to Hong Kong-listed YGM.
Picture from Flickr, copyright: Kake Pugh
