The Times - UK (2022-06-08)

40 Wednesday June 8 2022 | the times

Business

allowed to open — and 9 per cent of job

retention support, as that percentage of

staff had left the business.

“It felt like the right thing to do

because there are people who fared far

worse in the care, hospitality and travel

industries,” she said. “We couldn’t

afford to hand back all of the business

rates because of the cost involved in

operating during the crisis.”

Abraham took over as chief execu-

tive in 2019 from Julian Richer, who

opened his first shop in 1978. That year

he announced that he would transfer a

60 per cent stake in the business, which

has 50 shops, to 522 employees.

She said the inflationary environ-

ment was “tougher than I have ever

seen in the pandemic”, as consumers

would have to worry about “feeding

their children and making a decision to

put the heating on in the winter or not.

Owning the latest television isn’t going

to be their highest on the priority.”

Richer Sounds hits right

note despite rising prices

The cost-of-living crisis will be tougher

than the pandemic, the boss of Richer

Sounds said after its accounts showed

it had handed back part of the govern-

ment support it received during the

Covid outbreak.

Richer Sounds, the electronics and

music retailer majority-owned by its

staff, said it had repaid £448,000 of

government support last year after its

pre-tax profit rose by 52 per cent from

£6.48 million to £9.89 million. It said it

had done better than expected, with

sales edging up from £211 million to

£213.7 million, after it had mobilised its

“laptop army” of staff to take online and

phone orders while shops were shut.

Julie Abraham, 57, chief executive,

said Richer Sounds had refunded

44 per cent of the business rates relief it

had received — which equated to the

five months of the year its shops were

Ashley Armstrong Retail Editor

Toscafund, an activist hedge fund that

owns a 27 per cent stake in the fashion

chain but is yet to be linked with any

takeover interest. Two years ago it

made a tentative bid for TalkTalk and

previously bought Daisy Group, the

telecoms company, after believing it

was undervalued.

Ted Baker’s entire board has changed

since Kelvin stepped down and the

company is now led by Rachel

The pace-setter in the race to buy

Ted Baker has pulled out of the sale

process, prompting shares in the

fashion brand to fall by up to a fifth

yesterday.

Two weeks ago Ted Baker said that it

had selected a “preferred counter-

party”, believed to be Authentic Brands,

an American group that recently

bought Reebok and owns the Juicy

Couture clothing brand, as well as the

rights to Marilyn Monroe’s image.

But on Monday night the British

business said it had been told the bidder

no longer intended to make an offer

and that “the reason for not proceeding

was not linked to its due diligence

review of the company”.

It was unclear whether price

expectations were a factor in Authentic

Brands’ decision to walk away, as it had

already tabled a proposal to Ted Baker’s

board. Authentic has been linked with

several British retail assets, including its

interest last year in buying Topshop

with JD Sports.

Ted Baker said it would now restart

talks with other potential buyers after

receiving non-binding proposals before

selecting Authentic Brands as its first

choice.

Sycamore Partners, the American

private equity firm that jolted Ted

Baker into a sale process and was

understood to have had the backing of

Ray Kelvin, the company’s founder, has

already ruled itself out. Ted Baker’s

board had rejected two proposals from

Sycamore, the last at 137½p a share,

which would have valued the business

at £254 million.

Shares in Ted Baker recovered

slightly after sharp early falls but drifted

again to close down 18.4 per cent, or

24¼p, at 111½p last night.

Kelvin, 64, opened his first shop sell-

ing men’s shirts in Glasgow when he

was 33. The brand has since grown to

550 shops and concessions. Ted Baker

has lost 95 per cent of its stock market

value since 2018 when it was engulfed

in its founder’s “forced hugging”

scandal. Kelvin, who styled himself as

“the man closest to Ted”, resigned from

the company, although he denied all

allegations. He still owns an 11 per cent

stake and has a representative on the

board.

While Kelvin was once the rain-

maker of any potential takeover, Ted

Baker’s biggest shareholder is now

Ashley Armstrong Retail Editor

Ted Baker bid

Trading at Ted Baker has improved as

T

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