DISCOUNT shoe retailer Brantano is one of the first large retailers of 2016 to crumble under the pressures of the pivotal Christmas trading period. Brantano currently employs over 2,000 staff across the UK, and the closest stores are at London Road in Pembroke Dock and at Stephen’s Way in Carmarthen.
The shoe chain trades under different owners around Europe, but it is only the UK firm, which started-up in 1998, that is going i
nto administration.
Company turnaround experts Alteri Investors bought Brantano in October 2015 for £12 million, but PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the appointed accountancy firm in charge of Brantano’s administration, stated that the shoe business was suffering from “difficult trading conditions.”
Tony Barrell, lead administrator at PwC, said that a change in shoppers’ buying habits is to blame for the increasing struggles of “bricks and mortar” stores compared to their online counterparts.
Business Correspondent Emma Simpson said that “it appears that Brantano’s trading position was worse than Alteri expected. Christmas trading was also below expectations.”
Mr Barrell stated that: “Staff will continue to be paid for their work during the administration.” However, Pembroke Dock’s mayor Peter Kraus expressed his concerns regarding the long-term employment situation for the London Road store – if PwC fail to find a buyer, the number of jobs that will be lost is uncertain.
Following the closing of Pembroke Dock B&Q in October last year, Cllr Kraus warns that Pembrokeshire employment prospects could become bleaker if yet another nationwide chain in the London Road retail park disintegrates.
Cllr Kraus continued: “It was bad enough with B&Q – it feels like it’s a waiting game. Who is going to close next? Fingers crossed it won’t happen but it would be a huge loss for the town.”
PwC released a statement saying: “Brantano is an established value shoe retailer in the UK and it attracted considerable interest during the 2015 sales process. The administrators are continuing to trade as normal whilst we assess the trading strategy over the coming weeks.” PwC is understood to have already been approached by a number of interested buyers.
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