Coronavirus: Jigsaw owner Ross puzzles over potential sale
The businessman has drafted in advisers to lead a strategic review of the fashion chain he bought in 2018, Sky News learns.
Monday 20 July 2020 11:51, UK
The wealthy businessman who rescued Jigsaw, the high street fashion retailer, just over two years ago is piecing together a strategic review that could lead to another coronavirus-hit chain changing hands.
Sky News has learnt that David Ross, the co-founder of Carphone Warehouse, has drafted in two firms of advisers to oversee rent negotiations with landlords and gauge interest from prospective buyers.
City sources said on Monday that KPMG would assist with the landlord talks and Cavendish Corporate Finance - part of the listed investment bank Finncap - would undertake work on a possible sale or the recruitment of a new external investor.
Mr Ross, who was last week named as the new chairman of the Royal Opera House, bought Jigsaw in the spring of 2018, with the retail sector already facing a turbulent future amid shifting consumer behaviour.
The COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated the challenges facing non-food chains, with tens of thousands of jobs having been axed in recent months by employers including the John Lewis Partnership, Boots the Chemist and - shortly - Marks & Spencer.
The pandemic has been particularly brutal to fashion retailers, with Oasis and Warehouse, Cath Kidston and Laura Ashley all collapsing into administration.
The Oasis and Warehouse brands were subsequently bought by Boohoo Group, the online retailer which has been at the centre of controversy over pay and working conditions at factories it uses in Leicester.
Insiders said Jigsaw, which employs about 900 people, was expected to permanently close an unspecified number of its roughly 75 UK stores, regardless of the outcome of its talks with landlords.
Under Mr Ross's ownership, the company has retrenched from non-core areas of the business, such as menswear, in an effort to streamline its operations.
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Jigsaw also recently exited the Australian market, having withdrawn from the US and from its childrenswear line last year.
Those decisions leave it focused on its core business of selling women's fashion and accessories in the UK.
A Jigsaw spokesperson said: "We are confident that Cavendish and KPMG are the right partners to undertake this strategic review of our business.
"Jigsaw is a valued British heritage brand and the Board is determined to do all it can to steer the company and its staff through this incredibly challenging time."
Mr Ross bought a stake in the company from its then majority shareholder, John Robinson, with Secure Trust Bank committing £10m to replace Barclays as Jigsaw's principal lender.
Mr Robinson launched the Jigsaw brand in 1970, opening its first store in Brighton, Sussex.