Jacques Vert owner Calvetron goes into administration

The owner of the Jacques Vert fashion brand, Calvetron, is in administration, putting more than 1,400 jobs at risk.

Administrator Duff & Phelps has been appointed to Calvetron, which also owns the Windsmoor, Dash and Eastex brands.

Calvetron ran about 300 UK concessions in stores, including Debenhams and House of Fraser - which have both faced their own trading troubles.

A squeeze on consumer spending and rise in online competition has seen many top names close and thousands of jobs lost.

Duff & Phelps said Calvetron would continue to trade while it looked to see if the business could be sold.

Calvetron employs a total of 1,408 people - 997 in the UK, 155 in Ireland and 256 in Canada.

Its predecessor Style Group Brands (SGB) went into administration in June 2017, and was sold to Calvetron.

'Extremely difficult conditions'

Peter Ridler, Calvetron's chief executive, said great efforts had been made to revive the business: "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."

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Philip Duffy, managing director at Duff & Phelps, echoed the view about difficult trading on the High Street.

"Inflation and wage freezes have been major concerns for many fashion retailers and have been a driving force behind decreased spending," he said.

However, he said that Calvetron had "also been carrying a number of legacy issues dating back to the acquisition" of Style Brands' assets.

Mr Duffy 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."

On Tuesday, House of Fraser announced plans to close stores. Toys R Us and Maplin have gone into administration, while New Look and Carpetright are the process of restructuring their businesses.