Jacques Vert owner appoints administrators, putting more than 1,000 jobs at risk
The retailer buckled under the pressures affecting a host of high street names.
Jacques Vert owner Calvetron has collapsed into administration, putting more than a thousand jobs at risk.
The fashion retailer, which was founded by two east London tailors in 1972, employs 1,408 people and has around 300 store concessions.
Administrators at Duff & Phelps will now sell off the retailer’s stock while simultaneously looking for a buyer for the business.
Calvetron acquired Jacques Vert and a host of other retail brands in a pre-pack administration last year. The business trades from concessions in Debenhams, House of Fraser, M&Co and some independent retailers.
Peter Ridler, chief executive of Calvetron, said: “Everyone at Calvetron Brands has worked with energy and determination to achieve the turnaround that was needed; however, a combination of four brands that needed time and investment, against a backdrop of extremely difficult trading conditions on the high street, rising costs and low customer confidence has meant that we haven’t been able to achieve this within the timescales required.”
Joint administrator Philip Duffy said Calvetron was caught between a squeeze on consumer spending and a high cost base from its acquisition of Jacques Vert and its sister brands.
“Inflation and wage freezes have been major concerns for many fashion retailers and have been a driving force behind decreased spending,” he said.
“In the difficult retail environment we are facing today Calvetron simply could not restructure its cost base quickly enough or create the necessary economies of scale to succeed.”
