TWO retailers forced into administration because of the recession are set for partial rescues after former owners stepped in.
Entrepreneur John Shannon, who initially bought children's fashion chain Adams out of administration in 2007, has agreed to buy back a slimmed-down version of the business.
Completed over the weekend, the deal will see the name of the company
and more than 120 stores – including six in Scotland – saved, protecting about 1,900 jobs.
The deal between administrators at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Shannon's newly-formed company, JS Childrenswear, comes just six weeks after restructuring experts were called in to the ailing firm.
Nuneaton-based Adams, Britain's largest independent childrenswear retailer, was placed in administration on Hogmanay and PwC immediately began a review of the business.
Despite a large amount of interest in the chain, close to 150 stores have been shut, including 11 in Scotland, with more than 1,300 staff made redundant.
Joint administrator Rob Hunt said the sale would provide "some much-needed stability for customers, suppliers and employees alike in these uncertain times.
He said the deal was in the best interests of all stakeholders. "This transaction also demonstrates that, with the right business model, retailers can be rescued from administration in the current economic climate."
Shannon, a former chairman of footwear firm Stead & Simpson and clothing chain Country Casuals, pushed Adams towards affordable children's fashion and launched its "kids love fashion" branding.
He expressed an interest in buying back part of the company almost immediately, claiming that it remained viable.
Before being placed in administration Adams had an annual turnover of £150 million, operating from 270 stores and concessions in the UK, while also supplying a number of overseas franchises.
Elsewhere, hopes were raised yesterday that a similar deal could be struck to save at least part of Stylo, the shoe retailing group behind the Barratts and Priceless chains.
It is understood that the directors of the Bradford-based company – led by chief executive Michael Ziff – are putting together a management buy-out proposal that could save more than half the group's 385 stores and up to about 3,000 of its total workforce of 5,450.
Ziff's father, Arnold, founded the chain in 1935 and was yesterday reportedly planning to pump millions of pounds of his own money into the company to tide it over during the recession. The family already owns 65 per cent of the group.
Yesterday's developments are a rare bright note, with some of Britain's best-known high street falling by the wayside as a result of the recession.
A string of retailers, most notably Woolworths and MFI, have collapsed due to competition and a general slowdown in consumer spending.
According to consultants at Experian, 15 per cent of Britain's high street stores will be vacant by the end of 2009 – amounting to 135,000 empty units.
