Ted Baker closing last stores with 500 jobs at risk

Ted Baker stores with sale signs in their last days of trading, seen here in late July

The remaining 31 Ted Baker stores in the UK and Republic of Ireland are to close this week, putting more than 500 jobs at risk.

All of the fashion brand's stores are expected to have shut by the end of Tuesday.

The firm behind Ted Baker's UK shops, No Ordinary Designer Label (NODL), fell into administration in March this year.

In April, its administrators closed 15 shops and cut 245 jobs. One analyst called the brand's demise a "long running corporate car crash".

"Ted Baker is a rags to riches to rags story of the British rag-trade, a great shame", Shore Capital's Clive Black told the BBC, adding that it was a "dark time" for those who were losing their jobs.

Before it fell into administration, Ted Baker had about 975 employees in the UK and ran 46 shops, plus an e-commerce platform and department store concessions.

NODL currently employs 513 staff in the UK across the Ted Baker stores and head office. In Ireland it has 78 employees.

US firm Authentic Brands Group owns the intellectual property to Ted Baker, while NODL was the holding company for the brand in the UK.

When NODL fell into administration in March, Authentic said the "damage done" during a tie-up with another firm was "too much to overcome".

In April, administrators said that Authentic was continuing "discussions with potential UK and European operating partners for the Ted Baker brand".

However, Sky News, which first reported the latest store closures, said on Sunday that talks over a potential future licensing partnership had stalled.

Ted Baker began as a menswear brand in Glasgow in 1988 and grew to have shops across the UK and in the United States, with licensing agreements in place for stores in cities in Asia and the Middle East.

But it has suffered in the past few years from instability, starting in 2019 when founder Ray Kelvin resigned after allegations of misconduct, which he denied.

His successor Lindsay Page and chairman David Bernstein resigned the following year following a profit warning.

"From a modern, aspirational and distinctly British snazzy brand, Ted Baker never recovered from allegations of inappropriate behaviour, leading to a prolonged period of withering on the vine", Mr Black said.

Retail analyst Catherine Shuttleworth told the BBC that despite the long term strength of the brand, a "lack of investment combined with disappointing sales" meant shoppers found inspiration elsewhere, making the brand's "ongoing survival difficult".

The 31 stores that are closing are in:

Ashford, Bath, Belfast, the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, Braintree, Brent Cross (London), Bridgend, Cannock, Cheshire Oaks, Dublin, Grafton Street, Gatwick north, Gatwick South, Glasgow Buchanan Street, Gloucester Quays, Heathrow T2, T3, T4 and T5, Kildare, Livingston, Luton, Manchester Shambles, O2 Outlet, Portsmouth, Regent Street (London), Sheffield, St Pancras (London), Stansted, Swindon, White City (London) and York.

Ted Baker also has licensing agreements in place for stores in cities in Asia and the Middle East, which remain unaffected.

On Sunday, its UK retail website read "Goodbye for now", allowing customers 14 days for returns, adding that it was "not taking orders right now".