More than 1,000 jobs at risk as Beales department store falls into administration

Department store Beales has fallen into administration - putting more than 1,000 jobs at risk.

Beales is one of the UK's oldest department stores, established in 1881, and currently has stores in Spalding, Skegness and Wisbech.

Lincolnshire Live reported earlier this month that there were fears it could go into administration.

Now the company has collapsed and has appointed KPMG as administrators after failing to secure a sale.

The company's website has been taken down, although it is understood there will be no immediate closures with the 23 stores across the UK continuing to trade as normal for the timebeing.

Beales Ltd reported a £3.1m loss in the year to March 2019.

Beales, Skegness (Image: Google Street View)

Chief executive and owner Tony Brown told the Daily Echo: “We’re still in active talks with various parties and those talks continue while we go into the administration process.

“I’m still confident of a positive outcome.

“While we’ve had a very positive response from all our landlords, which have included Bournemouth, the conversations with BCP Council are exceptionally difficult as they don’t want to set a precedent. The precedent would be to end this lunacy of business rates."

The Press Association says a Government spokesman also confirmed they were in direct contact with the company's chief executive and are monitoring the situation.

The Bournemouth-based retailer is the latest high street name to suffer from soaring business rates and the public deserting shopping centres in record numbers.

"With the impact of high rents and rates exacerbated by disappointing trading over the Christmas period, and extensive discussions around additional investment proving unsuccessful, there were no other available options but to place the company into administration," said Will Wright, joint administrator at KPMG.

Last month Beales hired advisers at KPMG to lead a strategic review in order to find a profitable future for the business.

The company was previously in talks with landlords over rent reductions, through a Company Voluntary Arrangement, and reports suggested two potential buyers had been lined up.

The full list of Beales branches at risk is as follows:

Beccles
Bedford
Bournemouth
Chipping Norton
Diss
Fareham
Hexham
Keighley
Kendal
Lowestoft
Mansfield
Perth
Peterborough
Poole
Skegness
Southport
Spalding
St Neots
Tonbridge
Wisbech
Worthing
Yeovil

The high street has faced a number of difficult challenges recently.

Debenhams also fell into administration and was rescued by its lenders, leading to 19 stores closing this month.

John Lewis suffered a tough Christmas too, with the company warning that a bonus for the employee-owned business could be scrapped this year. The retailer also sacked its managing director, Paula Nickolds, earlier this month.

Mothercare also shut its doors for the final time a week ago, closing all 79 remaining stores after the firm's UK division went bust.

There was also a slump in high street sales in December across the UK as the expected boost of Christmas and Black Friday failed to lead to the kind of spending retailers were hoping for.