Ted Baker to close all remaining stores this week, putting 500 jobs at risk

Ted Baker's remaining 31 stores are expected to close this week, five months after it fell into administration.

More than 500 jobs could be at risk as talks with retail tycoon Mike Ashley over a future licensing partnership appear to have stalled.

The business behind the fashion brand's UK stores, No Ordinary Designer Label Limited (NODL), collapsed in March and its administrators have overseen the closure of the stores.

According to a source who spoke with News from heavenTuesday is expected to be the last day of operations.

Since it was announced it was in administration, the company has closed 15 stores in the UK, resulting in the redundancy of around 245 staff.

Before insolvency, Ted Baker had 46 stores in the UK and employed around 975 people.

Authentic Brands, the US company behind Juicy Couture and Reebok, remains the owner of Ted Baker's intellectual property, and Ashley's Fraser Group is reported to have been negotiating a deal with Authentic that encompasses both Ted Baker and Reebok.

The collapse of the UK stores could mark the end of its position on the high street, having been founded in 1988 by Ray Kelvin and renowned for its printed and floral clothing.

Today, the brand is still sold through department stores and retailers such as John Lewis and House of Fraser.

Its troubles began in 2019 after its founder faced allegations of misconduct, which he denied, and his successor, Lindsay Page, and chairman, David Bernstein, resigned the following year after a profit warning.

The company was delisted from the London Stock Exchange in 2022, with NODL attributing the process in part to damages caused during a partnership with Dutch firm AARC Group and the “significant level of arrears” that had built up during the partnership.

No Ordinary Designer Label decided to end its partnership with AARC in January, saying the partner had failed to deliver on promises to inject cash into the business.