Retailer Next buys Cath Kidston in £8.5m deal

Retailer Next has bought floral fashion brand Cath Kidston from administrators in a deal worth £8.5m.

Next has taken on the name and intellectual property but not Cath Kidston's four shops.

Administrators PwC said the shops would stay open while "operations are wound down", but added there would be redundancies.

Next has been snapping up struggling retailers, buying Made.com and fashion chain Joules late last year.

Cath Kidston collapsed in 2020 with the loss of nearly 1,000 jobs and the closure of all its UK shops.

It was bought and relaunched by private investment firm, Baring Private Equity Asia, which then sold the business last July to restructuring firm Hilco Capital.

Hilco had reportedly been looking at a sale of the business last month.

PwC said the retail sector "continues to be exposed to testing market conditions".

Cath Kidston had been hit by the "decline in consumer spending driven by cost-of-living pressures and rising costs," administrator Zelf Hussain said.

Cath Kidston was founded in 1993.

The company currently employs 125 people, with stores in London, Ashford, Cheshire Oaks, and York.

These will remain open to trade down stock before closing permanently.